Chips help Toshiba return to Q4 profit
By Tomoko A. Hosaka |
May 8, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TOSHIBA Corp returned to profit in the January-March quarter, driven by growing global demand for the flash memory chips used in devices from cameras to music players.
The Japanese conglomerate -- whose vast business spans household appliances to nuclear power systems -- yesterday said it booked a fiscal fourth-quarter net profit of 48.6 billion yen (US$531 million) on revenue of 1.85 trillion yen (US$20.2 billion). Operating profit came to 104.3 billion yen.
During the same period last year, Toshiba posted a net loss of 184 billion yen and an operating loss of 74 billion yen.
The Tokyo-based company cited better conditions for most of its businesses but singled out semiconductors for fueling a threefold jump in revenue at its electronic devices unit.
Toshiba is one of the world's largest producers of NAND-flash memory, the chips used for storage on portable music players, mobile phones and digital cameras. Demand for flash memory is expected to continue growing this year, along with sales of the gadgets that house them.
To keep up, Toshiba said in March that it will start building a new flash memory factory in Yokkaichi, central Japan, this summer. It had hoped to expand capacity earlier but put those plans on hold when recession hit. The company expects to complete the new facility next spring.
For the full fiscal year through March 31, Toshiba was in the red for a second year, though it managed to slash losses through cost cuts and restructuring. Toshiba posted a net loss of 19.7 billion yen against a 343.6 billion yen net loss the previous year.
The Japanese conglomerate -- whose vast business spans household appliances to nuclear power systems -- yesterday said it booked a fiscal fourth-quarter net profit of 48.6 billion yen (US$531 million) on revenue of 1.85 trillion yen (US$20.2 billion). Operating profit came to 104.3 billion yen.
During the same period last year, Toshiba posted a net loss of 184 billion yen and an operating loss of 74 billion yen.
The Tokyo-based company cited better conditions for most of its businesses but singled out semiconductors for fueling a threefold jump in revenue at its electronic devices unit.
Toshiba is one of the world's largest producers of NAND-flash memory, the chips used for storage on portable music players, mobile phones and digital cameras. Demand for flash memory is expected to continue growing this year, along with sales of the gadgets that house them.
To keep up, Toshiba said in March that it will start building a new flash memory factory in Yokkaichi, central Japan, this summer. It had hoped to expand capacity earlier but put those plans on hold when recession hit. The company expects to complete the new facility next spring.
For the full fiscal year through March 31, Toshiba was in the red for a second year, though it managed to slash losses through cost cuts and restructuring. Toshiba posted a net loss of 19.7 billion yen against a 343.6 billion yen net loss the previous year.
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