Fujitsu swings to profit on IT services, keeps outlook

TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - Japan's Fujitsu Ltd (6702.T) on Thursday swung to a quarterly profit from a loss the previous year, as its IT services business outweighed slumping sales of chips and hard drives, and it kept its annual outlook in line with market estimates.

April-June net profit at Fujitsu, which competes with International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) and Electronic Data Systems Corp EDS.N, came to 344 million yen ($3.19 million) from a loss of 14.78 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

For the year to next March, it kept its outlook for a 100 billion yen profit, double the 48.11 billion yen profit it posted the previous year and in line with a consensus forecast for a 99.5 billion yen profit by 13 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.

Fujitsu seeks to gain market share overseas for its IT services and consulting businesses, while reining in losses in its system chips and improving profits on its hard drives and mobile phones.

Shares of Fujitsu gained 17 percent since the start of the business year in April through Wednesday, against a 7 percent rise in Tokyo's electrical machinery subindex .IELEC.T. (Reporting by Mayumi Negishi)