Nov. 5--TOKYO -- Elpida Memory Inc. said Thursday it posted an operating profit in the July-September quarter for the first time in eight quarters on increased demand for semiconductor chips due to a recovery in sales of personal computers.

In its consolidated earnings report for the second quarter of fiscal 2009, Elpida booked an operating profit of 829 million yen against a loss of 42.31 billion yen in the first quarter.

Elpida, a maker of dynamic random access memory chips used mainly in mobile phones and personal computers, also trimmed its group net loss in the July-September quarter to 7.17 billion yen from 44.45 billion yen in the preceding quarter. Its sales grew from 72.57 billion yen in the April-June period to 95.85 billion yen in the July-September period.

For the April-September first half of fiscal 2009, Elpida logged 51.62 billion yen in group net loss against the year-before loss of 45.64 billion yen and 41.48 billion yen in group operating loss against a year-earlier loss of 40.11 billion yen. Sales came to 168.42 billion yen, down 24.4 percent from a year earlier.

Citing uncertainty about the business environment amid fluctuations in DRAM prices, the chipmaker refrained from giving any earnings forecast for fiscal 2009.

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