| Panasonic posts first quarterly profit, raises full year outlook |
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30/10/2009 14:29 (21 Day 15:37 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corporation posted a quarterly profit for the first time in a year and raised its full year outlook.
Operating profit at the world's largest plasma TV maker -- ahead of Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS) and LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS) -- was 49.1 billion yen ($539 million) in the July-September second quarter, versus 118.6 billion yen a year earlier, according to Reuters.
Revenue was 1.74 trillion yen in the quarter, down from 2.19 trillion in the quarter last year, Market Watch wrote. Still, the net profit surprised most analysts, whose consensus estimate in a poll by Thomson Reuters was for a net loss of 17.6 billion yen.
Recovering demand for electronics and appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines at home and overseas contributed to the return to profit, company spokeswoman Kyoko Ishii said, according to AP. The Japanese electronics maker said its quarterly sales dropped 20 percent to 1.7 trillion yen ($19 billion) from the previous year.
Market Watch wrote that for the full fiscal year ending in March 2010, Panasonic said it expects to post a smaller net loss of 140 billion yen, compared with the 195 billion-yen loss it predicted previously.
According to Reuters, the company posted a 72.87 billion yen profit last year. Shares in Panasonic, which vies with Sony Corp (6758.T) as the world's largest consumer electronics maker, gained 13 percent this year through Thursday, underperforming the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index .IELEC.T, which rose 28 percent.
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