Sharp reports 17% drop in second-quarter operating profit, beats analyst estimates

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Sharp Corp reported on Friday a 17.1% drop in second-quarter operating profit as the coronavirus pandemic continued to hurt sales of automotive displays and office printers.

The maker of sensors, camera modules and screens for Apple Inc’s iPhones posted an operating profit of 18.5 billion yen ($178.67 million) for the July-September quarter, down from 22.3 billion yen a year earlier.

The result topped the 17.52 million yen average of six analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.

Sharp maintained its operating profit forecast for the year though March 2021 at 82 billion yen, versus a consensus analyst estimate of 64.37 billion.

($1 = 103.5400 yen)

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)