Fujitsu Ltd. reported a jump in second-quarter profit after selling a 5 percent stake in Fanuc Ltd. in August.
Net income surged to ¥72.5 billion in the three months that ended Sept. 30, up from ¥4.29 billion a year earlier, the firm said in a statement Wednesday. That compares with a ¥44.2 billion Oct. 9 forecast by Haruo Sato, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Securities Co.
The company, which in 2005 sold its liquid crystal display unit to Sharp Corp. and its plasma-screen business to Hitachi Ltd., completed a sale of its money-losing hard-disk drive business to Toshiba Corp. this month to help return to profit this fiscal year. Fujitsu's chip operation will probably report a profit next fiscal year as the company outsources some production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to cut spending.
Operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, fell to ¥18.9 billion in the quarter, from ¥32.7 billion a year earlier, Fujitsu said, beating Sato's estimate of ¥2.16 billion. Revenue declined 11 percent to ¥1.14 trillion, it said.
Sales and operating profit fell as investments in software and computer systems by financial institutions, manufacturers and logistics companies declined and demand for chips, personal computers and hard-disk drives slumped amid a global economic slowdown.