Toshiba logs first profit in 6 quarters after major restructuring

Recovery plan: Toshiba Corp, which is selling off non-core chip operations, plans to invest heavily in its flash memory production capacity in Japan to better compete with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. — Reuters

TOKYO: Toshiba Corp on Friday said extensive restructuring helped the Japanese conglomerate swing to its first operating profit in six quarters, signalling recovery from a US$1.3 billion accounting scandal that unmasked underperforming operations.

Toshiba, whose output is as diverse as consumer electronics and nuclear power reactors, reported profit of 20.1 billion yen (US$196.90 million) for April-June. That compared with a year-earlier loss of 6.5 billion yen, and missed the Starmine SmartEstimate of a 33.5 billion yen in profit based on 5 analyst estimates.

Earlier on Friday, the Nikkei business daily reported the result as 20 billion yen, which Toshiba subsequently said was "close".

The conglomerate kept its outlook for the financial year through March at 120 billion yen in profit, a turnaround from the 719.1 billion yen loss in the previous year. - Reuters