* Toshiba to beat its estimate of H1 loss -Nikkei
* Microchip and nuclear business strong -Nikkei
* Shares down 0.4 pct vs sector index 1.2 pct fall
TOKYO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp will likely beat its own estimate to post a small first-half operating profit, helped by cost cuts and solid earnings from its chip and nuclear power businesses, the Nikkei newspaper said on Thursday.
Japan's biggest semiconductor maker and the owner of nuclear power firm Westinghouse is set to book operating income of 1 to 2 billion yen ($11 million-$22 million) for April-September, much better than its estimate of a 30 billion yen loss, the paper said.
It posted an operating loss of 23.5 billion yen in the first half last year.
The figures given in the Nikkei report would be the equivalent of a second-quarter operating profit of 38.6 billion to 39.6 billion yen, which beat a consensus of a 27.3 billion yen profit from a poll of five analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
A Toshiba spokesman said the company is still compiling its half-year results, which will be announced on Oct. 30.
Shares in Toshiba were down 0.4 percent at 544 yen, outperforming the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index, which fell 1.2 percent. (Reporting by Nathan Layne and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)