Mitsubishi Electric suffers profit fall in March quarter

TOKYO: Japan's Mitsubishi Electric said Monday its net profit plunged 75.5 percent to 7.6 billion yen ($94 million) in the quarter to March in the wake of a massive quake and tsunami.

Its operating profit for the quarter edged upward to 41.2 billion yen from 39.9 billion yen as sales remained unchanged at 1.04 trillion yen, the electronics manufacturer said.

"Due to the Great Eastern Japan Disaster, operations at some of our plants came to a halt, while planned blackouts lowered the operating rate," Mitsubishi said.

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the resulting tsunami hammered Japanese production, shattered supply chains and crippled electricity-generating facilities, including a nuclear power plant at the centre of an ongoing atomic emergency.

For the full year to March, Mitsubishi said net profit surged to 124.5 billion yen from 28.3 billion yen a year earlier as its operating profit more than doubled to 233.8 billion yen on sales of 3.65 trillion yen, up 8.7 percent.

Mitsubishi Electric forecasts a net profit of 125 billion yen, an operating profit of 230 billion yen on sales at 3.77 trillion yen for the current fiscal year to March 2012.

"The business environment surrounding our company remains uncertain due to the direct impact of the Great Eastern Japan Disaster on sales and distribution as well as other impacts of the disaster on consumers' sentiment and supply chains," it said.

But the firm signalled that extra demand for durable goods following the disaster may help boost its profit as the country works on restoration.