"We have already said we intend to post a profit in the fourth quarter of 2002/2003 and that still holds," CEO Ulrich Schumacher told Reuters in an interview, referring to the quarter that ended in September.

"And it is clear that we will go forward from there and won't fall back into losses in the subsequent quarters."

Shares in Infineon pared earlier losses on the news and stood up 0.32 percent at 12.62 euros by 0847 GMT.

Schumacher said he felt comfortable with estimates that the chipmaker would generate earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 250-400 million euros ($293-468 million) in 2003/04.

"Analysts' estimates for EBIT in 2003/2004 are between 250 and 400 million euros," Schumacher said. "We feel comfortable with that, provided there are no catastrophes