TOKYO (AP) -- Brisk sales of LCD televisions in China and Japan helped return Sharp Corp. to a profit for the nine months through December.
The Japanese electronics maker said Thursday it booked a net profit of 21.8 billion yen ($267 million) for the April-December period compared with a 8.5 billion yen loss the previous year. Revenue rose 15.1 percent to 2.3 trillion yen ($28.2 billion).
The Osaka-based company, one of the world's largest makers of LCD TVs and panels, said sales of its trademark TVs doubled during the last quarter of 2010 on last-minute purchase before the expiration of Japanese government incentives for energy-efficient appliances.
The "eco-point" program allowed purchasers of certain types of energy-saving TVs, refrigerators and air conditioners to earn points that could be exchanged for other products later.
For the October-December quarter alone, Sharp booked a net profit of 7.5 billion yen ($91.9 million), down from 9.1 billion yen profit the previous year. Revenue rose 12.3 percent to 825.5 billion yen ($10.1 billion).
To recover from last year's downturn, Sharp implemented deep companywide cost cuts that have paid off. This year, Sharp has launched new Aquos-brand TVs using a color technology called Quattron and released mobile handsets based on open-source operating systems. It launched a foray into the e-reader market with its "Galapagos" tablet in December.
Sharp maintained its projections for the full year through March announced in October, when the company lowered its net profit forecast to 30 billion yen from 50 billion yen. It expects operating profit of 90 billion yen.
Sharp shares closed down 3.1 percent at 835 yen in Tokyo.