Foxconn fourth-quarter net profit estimated T$71.66 billion, up 4 percent from year ago

The logo of Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry, is seen on top of the company's building in Taipei, Taiwan March 30, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn <2317.TW>, the world's largest contract electronics maker and a key Apple Inc <APPL.O> supplier, reported on Friday 4.2 percent growth in fourth quarter net profit from a year ago, defying expectations for a decline.

Net profit in the final three months of 2017 reached T$71.66 billion ($2.46 billion), up from T$68.77 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to a Reuters calculation based on the full year 2017 results of Foxconn, known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.

It was well ahead of the T$60.75 billion forecast by eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters SmartEstimates.

A motorcyclist rides past the logo of Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry, in Taipei, Taiwan March 30, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

For 2017 as a whole, Foxconn's net profit totaled T$138.7 billion, down 6.7 percent from 2016, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

($1 = 29.1030 Taiwan dollars)

(Reporting by Twinnie Siu and Meg Shen; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Peter Graff)