Sharp posts narrow quarterly loss

PanARMENIAN.Net - Sharp Corp., the Japanese electronics maker that supplies screens to Apple Inc., posted a narrower loss than analyst estimates as sales of liquid-crystal displays and solar cells rose, Bloomberg reported.

The net loss totaled 18 billion yen ($183 million) in the three months ended June 30, compared with the 138 billion yen loss a year earlier, the Osaka-based company said in a statement.

Sharp, which is benefiting from a weaker yen and cost cuts, needs additional funds to boost its capital ratio, executive Tetsuo Onishi said in Tokyo.

The company, which has previously sold stakes to Qualcomm Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., plans to raise about 100 billion yen through public and private share sales in September, people familiar with the situation said, according to Bloomberg.

Sharp is benefiting from a weaker yen and cost cuts. The company’s solar unit sales doubled to 84.3 billion yen from 41.9 billion yen a year ago and President Kozo Takahashi has pledged to make the company’s liquid-crystal displays unit profitable.

Operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, totaled 3 billion yen during the three months, compared with a loss of 94 billion year earlier, the company said. Sales rose 33 percent to 608 billion yen during the quarter.

The operating loss at the LCD unit narrowed to 9.5 billion yen during the three months, from a loss of 63.5 billion yen a year earlier, Sharp said.

Sharp’s solar-panel division posted an operating profit of 6.8 billion yen, compared with the 6.9 billion yen loss a year earlier, the company said.

Operating loss at the audio-visual and telecommunication unit, which sells TV sets and mobile-phone handsets, totaled 1.4 billion yen, compared with a loss of 20.3 billion yen a year earlier, Sharp said.