Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp. reported that its net profit attributable for the first-quarter rose 18% to 57.4 billion yen or from 48.8 billion last year, due to stable growth in Process Automation and Industrial as well as gains from the sale of land, despite the impact of ramp-up expenses for automotive battery business and price hikes in raw materials.
Operating profit rose 19% to 100 billion yen from 83.9 billion yen in the previous year, due mainly to sales increase offsetting the negative impact from fixed-costs increase and raw material cost hikes. Improved other income (expenses) such as recording a gain on the sale of land also contributed to profit increase.
Sales for the quarter grew 8% to 2.01 billion yen from 1.87 billion yen in the prior year. Domestic sales increased year on year due mainly to favorable sales of automotive-related products and PCs, despite a sales decline for consumer products in Appliances. Overseas sales significantly increased due mainly to favorable sales of the automotive-related business including Automotive and Energy, and the electronic component mounting equipment of Process Automation.
The consolidated financial forecast for fiscal 2019 remains unchanged from the previous forecast announced on May 10, 2018.
Looking ahead, for fiscal 2019, the company expects sales of 8.30 trillion yen, up 4 percent from last year, operating profit of 425.0 billion yen, up 12 percent, and attributable net profit of 250.0 billion yen, up 6 percent from the prior year.
