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Japan's Fujitsu half-year net profit surges 31.5%

Fujitsu said Thursday its half-year net profit jumped by nearly a third on rising IT investment among Japanese firms, but a recent economic downturn took a toll on results in July-September.

The sprawling IT conglomerate logged an April-September net profit of 24.1 billion yen ($221 million), up 31.5 percent year on year, while sales rose 1.9 percent to 2.19 trillion yen.

"Against the backdrop of improved corporate earnings, investment in information and communication technology continues to expand at a moderate pace," Fujitsu said in a statement.

Japan's economy picked up early last year as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government pushed ahead with a growth blitz dubbed Abenomics, which, coupled with the Bank of Japan's monetary easing measures, pushed the yen down and stocks soaring.

But more recent economic data have been lacklustre as April's sales tax rise -- Japan's first in 17 years -- dampens consumption.

That impacted Fujitsu's results in the second quarter from July to September as revenue fell 2.4 percent to 1.12 trillion yen, although the weak yen supported its overseas results.

"Revenue in Japan decreased 4.8 percent on lower revenue from PCs, server-related products, and mobile phones," it said.

Operating profit in the second quarter fell 39.2 percent to 24.9 billion yen and net profit was down 27.7 percent at 17.2 billion yen, Fujitsu said, adding that the higher results last year were partly due to one-time gains.

Fujitsu left its full-year outlook unchanged at a net profit of 125 billion yen on sales of 4.8 trillion yen.

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