Olympus back in profit as it recovers from scandals

Olympus has been hit by the stronger yen, which makes its products more expensive overseas

Olympus returned to profit in the six months to the end of September as it recovered from its accounting scandal.

The camera and medical equipment maker reported net profit of 8.02bn yen ($101m; £63m) compared with a loss of 32bn yen in the same period last year.

The profit was partly due to the sale of some subsidiaries but its medical systems unit also made a profit.

The camera business made a loss as a result of the strong yen and popularity of camera-equipped smartphones.

The strong yen is bad news for Japanese exporters because it makes their products more expensive overseas.

In November last year, Olympus admitted to hiding billions of yen of losses over 20 years in one of Japan's biggest corporate scandals.

The company and three of its former executives were charged by prosecutors in March in connection with the scandal.

Olympus is engaged in a five-year restructuring plan, which will involve reducing its global workforce by 7% by 2014 and cutting the number of its factories around the world from 30 to 18 by 2015.