TOKYO: Panasonic Corp. said Tuesday its group net profit rose 49 percent from a year earlier to ¥179.49 billion ($1.5 billion) in the fiscal that ended in March, as its robust in-car device business abroad dispelled negative effects from last April’s consumption tax hike in Japan.
Accelerating its restructuring efforts, the Japanese electronics-maker’s consolidated operating profit increased 25.2 percent to ¥381.91 billion, while its sales fell 0.3 percent to ¥7.72 trillion.
Panasonic expects a 0.3 percent gain in group net profit to ¥180 billion and a 12.6 percent expansion in operating profit to ¥430 billion on sales of ¥8 trillion, up 3.7 percent, for the year through March 2016.
The company said its housing and consumer electrical appliance business was lethargic in Japan, with demand shrinking following the 3-percentage-point consumption tax hike to 8 percent last April — the first tax increase in 17 years.
However, Panasonic added that its automobile-related operation grew overseas and the yen’s depreciation versus the U.S. dollar also bolstered the profitability in the last business year.
The electronics-maker, which incurred restructuring costs of ¥94.9 billion in fiscal 2014, said it plans to book restructuring expenses of ¥40 billion this business year.
Panasonic registered a group net loss for two consecutive years through fiscal 2012 due largely to sluggish sales of digital appliances against a backdrop of intensifying price competition with rivals including those in South Korea.
The company has been struggling to streamline its mainstay businesses such as televisions and TV panels as well as semiconductor and optical disk businesses.
Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga said parts of its businesses are still unprofitable, but his firm has almost completed a business restructuring process at home.“We will put more emphasis on growth,” Tsuga told a press conference in Tokyo, referring to this fiscal year.
Late last month, Panasonic pledged to spend ¥1 trillion to carry out “strategic investment” projects centering on mergers and acquisitions, aiming to achieve its key goal of increasing annual sales to ¥10 trillion by fiscal 2018.
