Toshiba's CE Sales Increase 14%

Tokyo— Overseas sales growth of personal computers helped step up sales in the digital products segment at Toshiba by 14 percent in the company's fiscal third quarter, hitting $5.9 billion, up from a year-ago $5.1 billion.

Steady progress in restructuring returned the PC business to profitability and helped put Toshiba's digital products area— mainly consumer electronics — into the black for the third quarter, ended Dec. 31. Operating income for the digital products business reached $108.3 million, compared with a loss of $75.3 million in the third quarter of 2003.

For the nine months, Toshiba's digital products registered sales of $16.2 billion, an increase of 12 percent over the $14.4 billion recorded in the same nine months a year earlier. The operating loss in the nine months for digital products dropped to $15.8 million, down from a loss of $347.4 million in the same time frame in 2003.

Overall overseas sales to North America climbed 19 percent in the third quarter, hitting $2.2 billion, up from $1.8 billion the previous year. Overall overseas sales for the nine months to North America jumped 16 percent to $6 billion from a year-on-year $5.1 billion.

With the United States continuing its economic expansion, Toshiba recorded consolidated third-quarter sales of $13.2 billion, a 3 percent rise over the $12.8 billion taken down a year earlier. However, operating income for the quarter slid to $8.7 million, down from $135.3 million in 2003. Still, third-quarter net income was colored black, at $15.5 million, compared with a loss of $88.9 million in the same three months the prior year.

For the 12 months, consolidated net sales rose 6 percent, hitting $40.1 billion, up from $38 billion a year ago. Operating income increased to $498.7 million from a year-ago $19.3 million. Net income also moved into the black for the nine months, reaching $96.7 million, compared with a loss of $400.2 million year-over-year.