Japanese high-tech giant Panasonic Corp returned to the black in the third quarter on management streamlining and upgraded its profit outlook for the full fiscal year, the company said yesterday.
Osaka-based Panasonic posted a net profit of ¥32.3 billion (US$360 million) in the October-December quarter, reversing a net loss of ¥63.1 billion a year earlier, said Japan’s biggest supplier of home appliances.
Operating profit more than tripled to ¥101.0 billion, while revenue gained 0.4 percent at ¥1.887 trillion in the quarter.
The profit gains were “due mainly to comprehensive streamlining of management,” the company said in a statement.
It added that the market for consumer electronics was still difficult even as the global economy is gradually emerging from its deep slump.
“In the electronics industry during the third quarter, despite visible signs of market recovery in such regions as China and Asia, severe business conditions continued,” including a shift to lower-priced products, it said.
For the nine months to December, the company still logged a net loss of ¥14.6 billion, against a year-earlier profit of ¥65.4 billion.
Its revenue during the nine months was ¥5.2 trillion, 16.1 percent less than a year earlier, while an operating profit for the period plunged to 49.0 percent to ¥129.9 billion.
For the full year ending March 31, Panasonic kept its net loss estimate unchanged at ¥140 billion, but raised its operating profit outlook to ¥150 billion from the October forecast of ¥120 billion.
It also raised its revenue outlook to ¥7.35 trillion from its previous estimate of ¥7 trillion.
“Although the global economy seems to be on the way to recovery, severe business condition continues with the appreciation of the yen and ever-intensifying global price competition,” the company said.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the