HispanicBusiness

Electronics manufacturer Sharp Corp said Friday its net loss narrowed to $399 million (36.8 billion yen) in the October-to-December quarter, compared with 173.7 billion yen a year earlier.

The Osaka-based company posted an operating profit of 2.7 billion yen, back in the black for the first time in five quarters, and a turnaround from an operating loss of 24.4 billion yen a year earlier.

The improved figures were due to job cuts and a reduction in inventory and non-current assets - referring to less-liquid assets such as property and equipment - as well as sales, which were up 15.1 percent to 678.3 billion yen for the quarter, Sharp said.

But the company maintained its annual net loss forecast at a record 450 billion yen for the financial year to the end of March, after a net loss of 376.1 billion yen the previous year.