Japan's Mitsubishi Electric first-half net profit drops 44 percent

TOKYO (AFP) Oct 30, 2003
Japanese high-tech maker Mitsubishi Electric Corp. on Thursday said its net profit for the first-half to September shrank 44 percent to 3.8 billion yen (35.2 million dollars) from a year earlier.

Group pretax profit, however, rose 43 percent to 16.8 billion yen in April-September, the company said in a statement.

Consolidated sales dropped five percent to 1.56 trillion yen.

Mitsubishi left its full-year to March 2004 sales and profit forecasts unchanged, with net profit at 12 billion yen, pretax profit at 20 billion yen and sales at 3.3 trillion yen.

"Expectations for an economic recovery are growing both in Japan and overseas but the severe business climate is expected to continue" as uncertainty remains over a full recovery in demand, intensified global competition and foreign exchange rates, the company said.

SPACE.WIRE