TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese electronics maker Hitachi said its net profit rose more than sevenfold to 41.2 billion yen (390 million dollars) in the first half on strong sales of IT and digital electronics products.
However, it left its sales and profit targets for the full year to March 2005 unchanged, citing concerns about a global slowdown in the second half.
Net profit for the six months to September rose 664 percent from a year earlier to 5.4 billion yen, while recurring profit rose 50.3 percent to 136 billion yen and revenue was up 7.1 percent to 4.33 trillion yen.
The strong recovery in the performance of key semiconductor subsidiary Renesas Technology, a joint venture with Mitsubishi Electric, and DRAM memory making venture Elpida Memory with NEC, buoyed the bottom line.
"Amid buoyant demand for semiconductor products, both Renesas and Elpida made (positive) contributions this year," Hitachi senior managing director Takashi Miyoshi told a news conference.
In the first half, Hitachi logged a gain from its joint ventures of 10.1 billion yen -- mostly from Renesas and Elpida -- reversing a 2.2 billion yen loss a year earlier.
Strong demand for flat-panel televisions and monitors for cellphones helped boost its machinery sales, lifting the electronic device segment 14 percent to 692 billion yen, Miyoshi said.
"The display and semiconductor-making equipment operations both achieved sales and profit growth," Miyoshi said.
Brisk sales of air conditioners and flat televisions was also boosted by the exceptionally hot summer in Japan and the Athens Olympics, he said, with the digital media and consumer products section up 10 percent to 646.1 billion yen.
Strong demand for raw materials and cables pushed its high-function materials sales up 19 percent to 740.4 billion yen.
Despite its stellar first-half performance, the company left its net profit forecast for the full-year to March 2005 unchanged at 100 billion yen, citing an expected slower electronics market in the second half.
"The US economy is expected to slow slightly due to the surge in crude oil and raw materials prices," Hitachi said in a statement. Japan's economic growth was also seen slowing, while growth elsewhere in Asia and Europe was seen as "modest."
"Hitachi believes it will be necessary to keep a close eye on market trends going forward," it added.
10/29/2004 - 10:53 GMT - AFP