Osaka, Japan — Growing business in digital cameras and mobile phones pushed up sales in the A/V information and communication equipment segment at Sanyo Electric by 23.6 percent in the company’s fiscal third quarter, reaching $3.1 billion.
Operating profit for A/V information and communication equipment, Sanyo’s consumer electronics segment, jumped 39 percent, to $163 million.
Digital camera sales climbed 58 percent in the three months, ended Dec. 31, said Sanyo.
Sanyo, which is a major OEM for digital cameras, with Olympus a key customer, does a relatively small business in Sanyo-brand CE products. The company does a healthy business in parts and devices used in finished digital products as well as optical pickups for phone cameras and batteries for mobile products.
The company’s battery segment enjoyed a sales increase of 7.1 percent, hitting $814.8 million in the third quarter, due primarily to a rise in demand for rechargeable batteries for mobile phones and notebook PCs.
Consolidated Sanyo net sales climbed 13.6 percent in the quarter, to $6.1 billion, from $5.4 billion year-on-year. Net income about tripled, to $73.7 million, from $25.2 million.
For the nine months, consolidated sales were up 16.3 percent, reaching $17.6 billion, from $15.3 billion in the year-ago period. Net income rose to $144 million for the nine months, from $48.5 million in the same period in 2002.
For the current fiscal year, ending in March, Sanyo said it is on target to reach $23.1 billion in consolidated sales, with net income of $240.7 million. The previous year, Sanyo’s 12-month loss hit $687.3 million.
Next fiscal year, Sanyo is estimating 12-month consolidated sales of $28.3 billion and operating profit of $1.5 billion.
