Yamada Denki Co., a mass retailer of discount home appliances, on Thursday reported strong parent-only earnings for the first half of the 2002 business year, citing brisk sales and a larger operating profit.
Yamada Denki's operating profit for the six-month period grew 18.1 percent from a year before to 5.28 billion yen, with sales having risen 28.9 percent to 334.47 billion yen.
The firm is based in Maebashi, the capital of Gunma Prefecture.
Its strong showing came amid increasing demand for discounted items, with wages falling around the country as a result of deepening deflation.
Yamada Denki said its half-year pretax profit rose 12.4 percent to 9.42 billion yen, while its net profit grew 4.1 percent to 4.95 billion yen, or 178.36 yen per share.
For the full year, Yamada Denki expects to generate a pretax profit of 23.43 billion yen, against the previous year's 18.29 billion yen.
It also hopes to report a net profit of 12.58 billion yen, against last year's 10.24 billion yen, on sales of 755 billion yen, up from 560.88 billion yen.
On a consolidated basis, Yamada Denki registered a half-year operating profit of 415 million yen, a pretax profit of 7.46 billion yen and a net profit of 3.74 billion yen, on sales of 367.34 billion yen.