Fujitsu's sales rose to ¥2,513.1bn (£11.3bn) in the first half of 2007, an increase of 6.4 per cent on last year and a record figure for the period.

Operational profit matched last month's raised forecast, totalling ¥43.9bn (£198m). But while this number is more than double the original prediction of ¥20bn (£90m), it still represents a drop 13.2 per cent on last year's results.

The hardware company's net loss came to ¥9.3bn (£42m), down from a ¥14.8bn (£67m) profit in the first half of 2006.

Fujitsu said that the weaker figures could partly be attributed to changes in its accounting policies, designed to bring the company in line with international financial reporting standards.

Income was also affected by strategic investment in logic LSI devices and next-generation networks.

The £500m outsourcing contract Fujitsu signed with Reuters in August may act as a signpost for the company's future strategy, said Ovum analyst Angel Dobardziev.

"The key challenge will be the integration of the European, Asian and North American IT Services operations," said Dobardziev.

"The experience of the recent Reuters win suggests that these units can collaborate on an ad hoc basis, but this collaboration needs to be elevated and institutionalised with structural changes in its organisational model.

"We expect concrete steps in this direction in 2008 - their execution will determine whether Fujitsu realises its global IT Services ambitions."