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Sharp’s Profit Down Sharply in First Quarter, Sales up Slightly

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Sharp Corporation today reported financial results for its fiscal first quarter, which consisted of the three months that ended on June 30, 2023.

In general it wasn’t good news, although MFP sales saw improvement (see “Smart Office Business” below).

Sharp’s first-quarter net sales were ¥541.2 billion ($3.82 billion), down 3.7 percent year-over-year; operating profit was a loss of ¥7.0 billion ($49.42 million); and profit was ¥5.5 billion ($38.83 million), down 79.5 percent year-over-year.

Although operating profit and profit declined year-over-year, Sharp said they were better than the preceding fourth quarter.

It also said it will proceed with new businesses as quickly as possible, and accelerate business reform.

Smart Office Business

First-quarter sales for Sharp’s Smart Office business were ¥126.6 billion ($893.94 million), down 2.8 percent year-over-year. However, operating profit saw a big year-over-year increase – it was ¥3.1 billion ($21.88 million), up 168.8 percent year-over-year.

Within the Smart Office business, sales of information displays were down due to severe price competition. In the PC business, Sharp withdrew from the European PC market. However, Sharp’s PC business profitability improved significantly, due to structural reforms.

Sharp’s MFP and office-solutions sales remained strong, especially in Europe and the U.S. It also benefited from a shift to a higher valued-added office solutions. 

Sharp reported an Increase in MFP sales, but a decrease in information display sales.

All Business Groups

First-quarter sales were down for all of Sharp’s business groups, except for its Electronic Device business, which had sales up 20.8 percent year-over-year.

Sales were down for Sharp’s Smart Office, Display Devices, Smart Life & Energy, Universal Network, and Device businesses.

Operating profit was down for the Display Device, Electronic Device, and Device businesses, all of which reported losses.

Forecast

For its current fiscal year that will end on March 31, 2024, Sharp maintained its forecast.

The company is forecasting net sales of ¥2.56 trillion ($18.07 billion), up 0.5 percent year-over-year; operating profit of ¥40.0 billion ($282.45 million), versus a loss for the previous year; and profit of ¥10.0 billion ($70.62 million), versus the previous year’s loss of ¥260.8 billion ($1.84 billion).

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