Consumer electronics firm Sharp Corp. said Tuesday it chalked up a consolidated net profit of 14.05 billion yen in the first quarter of the current business year, up 13.5 percent from a year earlier.

Net profit per share rose to 12.89 yen from 11.15 yen, Sharp said.

For the April-June quarter, the company also reported a group pretax profit of 25.79 billion yen, up 17.3 percent, on a 7.2 percent rise in consolidated sales to 511.74 billion yen, Sharp said.

Sharp attributed the favorable quarterly results to strong sales of such products as television sets with liquid crystal displays, camera-equipped mobile phones, and air conditioners and purifiers featuring germ-killing ions.

For the full business year through March 31, Sharp has left unchanged its group earnings projections, forecasting a net profit of 50 billion yen and a pretax profit of 100 billion yen on group sales of 2.15 trillion yen.

In the previous year Sharp posted a net profit of 32.59 billion yen, a pretax profit of 81.92 billion yen and sales of 2 trillion yen.

JVC back in black

Victor Co. of Japan said Tuesday its consolidated net balance returned to the black for the April-June quarter due to cost cuts, favorable foreign exchange factors and structural reforms.

The video recorder manufacturer said it posted a group net profit of 74 million yen in the April-June term, compared with a net loss of 1.8 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

It reported a group pretax profit of 1.24 billion yen, up 932.7 percent from a year earlier.

Group sales, however, dropped 7 percent to 220.04 billion yen due to sluggish consumer spending.

The sales decline also reflects robust demand spurred by the World Cup soccer finals held from late May through June last year, the company said.