Columbia Music Entertainment Inc., reviving itself under Ripplewood Holdings LLC, reported Thursday its first profit in seven years on a group operating basis.

The country's oldest record company said its fiscal 2002 performance was buoyed by cost-cutting and a growing focus on pop and rock music in addition to "enka" ballads.

"Our message is simple: Now, our company is profitable," said Strauss Zelnic, chairman and chief executive of Columbia Music Entertainment. The group operating profit was 22 million yen for fiscal 2002, compared with a 2 billion yen loss a year ago.

Group sales amounted to 29.88 billion yen. The comparable figure for the previous year is not readily applicable because the firm spun off an audiovisual equipment unit. Sales from the continuing business for fiscal 2001 reached 32.89 billion yen.

The record company said its revitalization was helped by brisk singles and album sales by Yo Hitoto, who debuted in October.

The company, formerly Nippon Columbia Co., had long been labeled as an enka house. Since fiscal 2002, it has been trying to reduce its reliance on the genre and scout out talent in Japanese pop and rock.

During the last fiscal year, the company also carried out a variety of cost-cutting, including early retirement programs. The total workforce at the end of March was 650, down from 1,052 a year ago.

As a result of the restructuring, the company posted a group net loss of 1.25 billion yen but expects to post its first net profit in 13 years for the current fiscal year.

Since October 2001, the firm has been trying to turn itself around under Ripplewood, which has a 34 percent stake.