Toshiba CE Business Sales Climb 15% In Q3
By Jeff Malester -- TWICE, 2/13/2006
Tokyo — Fiscal third-quarter sales for the digital products business at Toshiba jumped 15 percent, hitting $5.9 billion, up from a year-ago $5.2 billion.
The company reported higher sales of storage devices, namely hard disk drives, and continuing strong sales of mobile phones in this consumer electronics segment. The PC business also enjoyed increased sales vs. a year ago, due mainly to positive overseas revenue growth.
The digital products business remained profitable in the third quarter, ended Dec. 31, coming in at $112.4 million, an 18 percent rise over the $95.4 million recorded in the previous year, due to successful cost reduction measures that offset price erosion and higher procurement costs triggered by yen depreciation.
For the nine months, the digital products, or CE segment, enjoyed an 11 percent increase in sales, to $15.8 billion, up from a year-earlier $14.2 billion. Operating income for the period moved into the black, coming in at $168.9 million, compared with an operating loss of $13.9 million in the same time frame in 2004.
Third-quarter Toshiba sales to North America increased 20 percent, reaching $2.1 billion, up from $1.8 billion in the same quarter the prior year. Operating income in the period more than doubled to $80.2 million, up from a year-on-year $35.5 million.
For the nine months, sales in North America rose 12 percent, reaching $5.5 billion, up from $4.9 billion in the same period in 2004. Operating income soared 55 percent, hitting $144 million in the period, up from $93.2 million in the same nine months the previous year.
Consolidated Toshiba sales in the third quarter increased 16 percent, hitting $13.4 billion, up from a year-ago $11.7 billion. Operating income jumped to $539.4 million, compared with a year-on-year $7.7 million. Net income rose to $185.2 million, from a year-earlier $13.6 million.
For the nine months, Toshiba consolidated sales reached $38 billion, an 8 percent rise over the $35.4 billion posted in the third quarter of 2004. Operating income came in at $974.7 million, more than double the $439.4 million recorded year-over-year. Net income more than tripled, hitting $309.3 million, compared with $85.2 million a year ago.
