TOKYO: Japan IT firm NEC said Thursday it had swung back to profitability in the six months to September, after it exited from the smartphone market as part of a broader restructuring.
The firm posted a net profit of 12.5 billion yen ($114 million) in the April-September period, reversing a 26.2 billion yen loss a year earlier.
Operating profit ballooned to 21.5 billion yen from a year-earlier profit of 379 million yen, as the firm cut away its money-losing smartphone unit and focused on conventional handsets.
Sales were down 4.2 percent at 1.32 trillion yen, it added.
NEC fell into the red last year due largely to losses stemming the former powerhouse quitting the highly competitive smartphone sector, ending the development, production and sales of the devices.
It had merged its mobile phone handset operations with those of Casio Computer and Hitachi to fight off rising competition. But the subsidiary struggled in a market increasingly dominated by Apple and South Korean giant Samsung.
On Thursday, NEC left its earnings forecast unchanged for the full year to March, expecting a net profit of 35 billion yen on sales of 3.0 trillion yen.
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