Japan Telecom Holdings Co., the owner of Japan's third-largest telecom carrier, said Tuesday its group net balance for the fiscal first half to Sept. 30 swung back into the black due mainly to cost-cutting and growth in its J-Phone mobile phone services.

Consolidated net profit for the first half came to 43.52 billion yen, up sharply from a loss of 5.19 billion yen the previous year.

Net profit per share was 13,621.67 yen, compared with a loss of 1,624.10 yen per share a year earlier.