TOKYO, May 9 (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp , Japan's largest chipmaker, reported a 10 percent fall in fourth-quarter operating profit after the March earthquake and tsunami stalled operations at some of its suppliers, prompting clients to look elsewhere.
Toshiba said its operating profit was 98.0 billion yen ($1,2 billion) in January-March, down from 104.3 billion yen a year earlier. The result, which was flagged last month, was in line with market estimates.
The maker of nuclear reactors and supplier to Tokyo Electric Power Co said its net profit doubled to 97.7 billion yen on sales of real estate.
Toshiba said it expects to earn an operating profit in the year that started on April 1 of 300 billion yen, which compares with the 298.3 billion yen Thomson Reuters Starmine SmartEstimate, which places more weight on recent forecasts by top-ranked analysts.
One of its big clients, LG Electronics , which previously sourced more than half its chips for home appliances from Toshiba, is buying more from rivals such as Hynix Semiconductor and Panasonic Corp , following the quake. ($1 = 80.630 Japanese Yen) (Reporting by Mayumi Negishi; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)