Sharp has lifted its full-year profit guidance after posting its first quarterly net profit in over two years as the Japanese liquid crystal display maker pressed ahead with cost-cutting measures under the ownership of Taiwan's Foxconn.
The net loss will reach 37.2 billion yen ($329 million) in the year ending March 31, the Osaka-based company reported on Friday. That's narrower than the company's previous forecast for a 41.8 billion yen shortfall.
"Except for the solar business, all of our operations are profitable," Executive Vice President Katsuaki Nomura said in a briefing in Tokyo on Friday. "Decision making has sped up under new management and so has the pace of balance sheet improvement."
Sharp's shares have more than tripled in value since August, when Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group bought control of the struggling Japanese electronics maker. Tai Jeng Wu, who took over as Sharp's president in August, is making headway in overhauling the liquid-crystal display business, which reported an 11 billion yen profit in the latest quarter. He will next need to address losses in Sharp's solar-panel operations and reverse a decline in consumer electronics sales.
The company cited restructuring efforts for the revised outlook, saying cost reductions added 62.2 billion yen to the bottom line in third quarter.
Net income was 4.2 billion yen in the three months ended Dec. 31. Operating income was 18.8 billion yen in the quarter, compared with the prediction for 13.2 billion yen.
Sharp also benefited as production cutbacks by Korean rivals in LCD panels for television sets fueled an industry-wide shortage of panels and pushed up market prices.