Panasonic hikes full-year forecasts despite virus impact

TOKYO: Japanese electronics giant Panasonic on Tuesday revised its full-year forecasts upwards, citing sales growth and cost-cutting efforts, but said profit declined in April-December as the coronavirus pandemic battered the global economy.

For the 2020/21 financial year, the firm now expects a 150 billion yen ($1.4 billion) profit on sales of 6.6 trillion yen.

Its previous forecasts were for 100 billion yen and 6.5 trillion yen respectively.

The hikes reflect "recent growth in sales" and the "strengthening of our business structure", Panasonic said in a statement.

For the April-December period, the company posted net profit of 130.14 billion yen, down 27 percent year-on-year, on sales of 4.87 trillion yen,which were down 15 percent.

Panasonic on Monday said it would stop producing solar panels, a sector in which it was once a global pioneer but has in recent years been overtaken by rivals from China.