Hoya Corp., the nation's largest producer of optical glass and eyeglasses, announced Monday group net profits of 13.66 billion yen for the first half of fiscal 2001, down 0.2 percent from a year earlier.
The company said that while the information technology slump lessened demand for optical glass and optical lenses, its eye-care products sold well worldwide.
Group pretax profits for the six months to Sept. 30 fell 1.8 percent to 22.70 billion yen, while group sales grew 2.3 percent to 118.36 billion yen.
On an unconsolidated basis, the company posted pretax profits of 17.33 billion yen, down 4.2 percent, and net profits of 11.09 billion yen, down 0.8 percent, on sales of 78.30 billion yen, up 6.3 percent.
The company said it will pay dividends of 25 yen per share, an increase from its midterm payment of 20 yen last year.
Hoya said it will release its earnings forecast for the entire fiscal year, on both a consolidated and an unconsolidated basis, in January.