Sharp Corp, the pioneer of LCD screens, warned on October 22 that it expected its net profit to slip in the first half of the business year on rising costs of its investments and raw materials. But the Japanese company said it still expected sales to increase thanks to robust LCD sales and it did not revise its projections for a full-year rise in net profit.
Sharp projected net profit of 43 billion yen (375 million dollars) for the six months to September 30, down 7.6 percent from the same period the previous year.
It forecast in a statement that operating profit would likely slip 12.4 percent to 79 billion dollars, although sales in the period was seen going up 11.9 percent to 1.64 trillion yen.
Sharp said the reasons for the anticipated fall in net profit included the cost of building its new LCD plant in Poland, which produces liquid crystal display modules for the European market. Sharp also said that rising costs of raw materials and revisions to tax laws were expected to hit the bottom line.