Toshiba Corp. returned to profitability in the April-June quarter as global demand recovered for flash memory chips used in smart phones and digital cameras.

The company — whose vast business ranges from household appliances to nuclear power systems — said Thursday it logged a net profit of ¥466 million in the quarter compared with a loss of ¥57.8 billion in the same period last year.

"We swung back to the black as demand for flash memory chips improved worldwide," said Toshiba spokesman Ken Shinjo.

Toshiba also said it has agreed with computer maker Fujitsu Ltd. to merge their mobile phone operations. The two firms will set up a new company to run the mobile phone business. Fujitsu will own 80.1 percent of the new venture and Toshiba the rest.

Toshiba's revenue for the quarter rose almost 10 percent to ¥1.5 trillion. Nearly 60 percent of Toshiba's revenue comes from abroad.

Sales in Asia expanded 18.7 percent to ¥324.4 billion an climbed 8 percent to ¥276.8 billion in North America. Sales in Europe jumped 32.4 percent to ¥214.7 billion.

Sales of electronic devices, including flash memory chips, jumped 22 percent year-on-year to ¥332 billion during the quarter.

Toshiba is one of the largest producers of NAND-flash memory, the chips used for storage on portable music players, mobile phones and digital cameras.

Toshiba also said brisk demand for flat-panel TVs in Japan helped lift quarterly sales of digital products by 22 percent to ¥599.6 billion.