Japanese giant Sharp Corp has reported consolidated net profits for the first half of its fiscal year that plunged 86% from the year-ago period to 2.9bn yen ($23.7m). The company said a poor pricing environment for semiconductors and liquid crystals, coupled with poor sales of personal handyphone system units, were the main reasons behind the downturn in its fortunes. As a result of the pricing pressures, the firm’s liquid-crystal and chip businesses lost billions of yen. Consolidated revenue in the six- month period was flat year-over-year, at 901.2bn yen ($7.36bn). Sales were down 7% drop domestically due to the poor economic situation in Japan, but strong sales in Europe helped international revenue grow by 8%. For the full fiscal year through March, Sharp’s consolidated net profit is expected to drop 66%, to 8.5 billion yen ($69.4m), and consolidated revenue is projected to be 1.77 trillion yen ($14.46bn), down 1%. Figures were converted at a rate 122.4 yen to the dollar.
