The TV maker’s annual profit jumps 300 percent as LCDs demand booms.
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The Japanese electronics giant said its net profit for the year ended March 31 surged to 19.4 billion yen or US$237.4m.
This reflects a phenomenal 341 percent profit hike from 4.4 billion yen this time last year.
Huge demand for its liquid crystal display (LCD) screens boosted its figures, it said yesterday, which are used for smartphones, tablets, TVs and game consoles.
Total sales increased 10 percent to US$37 billion with revenue from LCD displays increasing 21 percent to 614.3 billion yen.
It also sold almost double its number of LCD TV sets compared to a year ago – 2.18 million in China alone, according to Sharp spokesman Toshiyuki Matsumura.
However, its not all good news for the Osaka based giant, who issued a warning to shareholders that the earthquake which hit the eastern region earlier this year would have a huge impact on business.
Net sales and profit fell 30 billion yen below forecasts, however, due to the drop in demand following the disaster as well as the reorganisation of its LCD facility.
Sharp also warned it was unable to provide a specific earnings forecast for the current fiscal year through March 2012 because of uncertainties remaining after the quake.
“It is extremely difficult at this time to reasonably estimate the impact of the earthquake on our financial results, which will be broad across our entire business activities from production to sales,” Sharp said.
Sharp also announced changes to its joint LCD venture Sony, called Sharp Display Products, announced in July 2009 and are to thrash out a new agreement which will see the ownership structure reconfigured.
Sony was originally to own 34 per cent of the LCD business.
