Tokyo – Sanyo Electric reported basically flat sales but a net profit of $148.1 million for its fiscal first half which ended Sept. 30.
During its first half consolidated net sales were $10.1 billion, a decrease 0.4 percent from the same period last year.
The net profit for the first half was $148.1 million, what the company called “a large improvement from a negative balance at the same time last year.”
Domestic sales decreased by 16.2 percent, ending at $3.74 billion, over the same period last year, due in part because of the decline in mobile phones and commercial equipment such as industrial kitchen appliances and medical equipments in addition to the weak sales of white goods.
Overseas sales increased by 12 percent, totaling $6.37 billion over the same period last year, thanks to digital cameras and projectors, commercial-use air conditioning and showcase systems, and favorable lithium-ion and solar battery markets, the company said.
Operating profit was up 50.3 percent, to $220.3 million over the same period last year, through cost reductions and stronger sales in the digital camera and components businesses, despite increases in raw materials’ cost. Profit before tax surged 243 percent to $223.1 million, compared to the same period last year, from a reduction in debt bearing interest and gains on the sale of Sanyo’s share of Sanyo Electric Credit.
Seiichiro Sano, president of Sanyo, said in a prepared statement, “The first half ended with higher-than-expected sales, operating profit, profit before tax, and net profit. Also, there is elevated awareness globally of the environment, which will allow us greater opportunities to expand business in our aim to become a ‘leading provider of Environment- and Energy-related products.”
He also added, “A new three-year ‘Mid-term Management Plan’ is being created, which will help make Sanyo a new global company with sustainable growth.”
