Toshiba cut its full-year operating profit forecast 13 percent amid weaker sales of semiconductors and as a stronger yen erodes overseas earnings. Operating income may total 260 billion yen ($3.3 billion) for the year ending March 31, compared with the previous estimate of 300 billion yen, the world's second- largest flash-memory chipmaker said in a statement today.

Toshiba revised its forcasts due to the deepening downturn in the global economy due to the European debt crisis, slowdowns in emerging economies including India and China, and the stronger yen that erodes overseas earnings.

Although Toshiba's Social Infrastructure segment recorded a healthy performance, its Digital Products and Electronic Devices segments saw decreases that reflected impact including market deterioration.

First-half operating income at Toshiba?s social infrastructure business, its biggest by sales, more than doubled to 49.7 billion yen from 24.1 billion yen a year earlier on rising orders to build gas turbines and the acquisition of Landis+Gyr, a Swiss maker of electric meters, last year.

Earnings from home appliances fell 65 percent and electronic devices income slumped 23 percent.

Toshiba also agreed to pay about 125 billion yen to buy out Shaw Group Inc.'s 20 percent stake in its nuclear power equipment unit, Westinghouse Electric Co., it said earlier this month.

Toshiba has also reduced NAND flash memory production by 30 percent since July. Demand for storage cards used in mobile devices including cameras and USB memory slumped amid economic weakness in Europe, prompting Toshiba to cut output at its Yokkaichi factory in Japan, the company said in July.