But all three were cautious about prospects for the current year due to the outbreak of the deadly SARS virus and sluggish domestic demand.

Hitachi Ltd. swung to a net profit of 27.9 billion yen (232.5 million dollars), reversing a 483.8 billion yen loss previously.

Pre-tax profit came in at 96.8 billion yen, compared with a 586.1 billion yen loss previously, and revenue grew 2.5 percent to 8.19 trillion yen.

Hitachi executive vice president Yoshiki Yagi said the firm lowered fixed costs by 290 billion yen over the year.

"As a result, I think our basic earnings structure improved... thereby allowing us to achieve a major turnaround," he told a news conference.

But the net profit fell short of a 36 billion yen target because of a decline in stock prices, which resulted in a writedown in the value of the firm's share investments, and a change to tax law, Yagi said.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei-225 index lost almost 30 percent over the year to March, slashing the value of corporate share portfolios.

In addition, a new local tax law, passed at the end of March, removed a loophole in accounting rules that enabled Japanese firms to boost balance sheets by including items such as deferred tax assets.

Rival Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and consumer electronics leader Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. blamed these two factors for another year of losses.

Mitsubishi's net loss shrank to 11.8 billion yen from 78.0 billion yen a year ago.

Japan's third largest electronics maker achieved a pre-tax profit of 2.5 billion yen, compared with a loss of 155.1 billion yen previously, while revenue was down marginally at 3.64 trillion yen from 3.65 trillion yen.

Earnings improved following restructuring to cut costs.

Matsushita, known for its Panasonic and National brands, suffered a net loss of 19.5 billion yen in the year to March, a big improvement on the 427.8 billion yen lost a year earlier.

Pre-tax profit recovered to 68.9 billion yen from a loss of 537.8 billion yen, while revenue was up five percent at 7.40 trillion yen.

The three firms were wary about prospects for the current financial year due to the worldwide spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a slowdown in the US economy and subdued consumer spending and capital investments at home.

Hitachi, which plans to spend another 130 billion yen on restructuring this year, expected its net profit to shrink to 5.0 billion yen.

Mitsubishi hoped to recover to a modest profit of five billion yen.

"There is a concern that investment and consumer sentiment will weaken further," Mitsubishi managing director Yukihiro Sato told a news conference.

"In addition, drops in Japanese stock prices are not seen to have come to a halt," he said.

Matsushita projected a net profit of 30 billion yen, but also retained a note of caution in its outlook.

"Plus factors will be increasing sales... and cost cuts," said Kazumi Kawaguchi, corporate advisor in charge of accounting.

But prolonged deflation in Japan, a stronger yen and higher advertising costs were expected to weigh on the bottom line, he said.

SPACE.WIRE