May 13--TOKYO -- Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. reported on Wednesday a group net profit of 538.68 billion yen for fiscal 2008, down 15.2 percent from the previous year, but still the largest amount among listed Japanese companies for the year.

It reported an operating profit of 1.11 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, down 14.9 percent, on group sales of 10.42 trillion yen, down 2.5 percent from the previous year.

The telecommunications giant's group net profit surpassed that of trading house Mitsubishi Corp., which announced earlier this month that its group net profit in fiscal 2008 declined 21.4 percent to 369.94 billion yen.

For the current business year ending next March, the company says it expects an operating profit of 1.11 trillion yen, unchanged from fiscal 2008, and a group net profit of 460 billion yen, down 14.6 percent, on sales of 10.3 trillion yen, down 1.1 percent.

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