Toshiba’s second-quarter profit down 64% on pandemic, below estimates

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Toshiba Corp on Wednesday reported a 64% drop in quarterly operating profit as the industrial conglomerate struggled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operating profit for the second quarter ended September came to 15.75 billion yen ($149.84 million), down from 44.23 billion yen in the same period a year prior.

That compared with a 23.30 billion yen average of five analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.

Toshiba maintained its profit forecast for the year ending March at 110 billion yen, down 15.7% from a year earlier.

The outlook compared with a consensus estimate of 131.03 billion yen from 12 analysts.