Matsushita profits more than double on strong sales of TVs, cameras

Profit at Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Osaka, Japan, for the July-September quarter more than doubled from what it was a year ago on solid sales of flat-panel TVs and digital cameras, reports The Associated Press.

Group net profit for the fiscal second quarter at the Japanese manufacturer known globally for its Panasonic brand products soared to ¥79.3 billion (US$670 million) from ¥31 billion, company said Friday. Quarterly sales edged up 2 percent to ¥2.25 trillion (US$19 billion) from ¥2.21 trillion, it said in a statement.

The company kept unchanged its forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2007 at net profit at ¥190 billion (US$1.6 billion), up 23 percent from the previous year, on ¥8.95 trillion (US$76 billion) sales, up 1 percent.

Matsushita, like other Japanese electronics makers, has embarked on cost-cutting overhauls after getting battered by a plunge in electronics prices and tough competition from cheaper Asian rivals starting about five years ago, says the AP.

But Matsushita indicated the worst of restructuring may be behind it, booking a charge of ¥3.8 billion (US$32 million) for early retirement programs during the July-September period, far less than the ¥20.6 billion racked up the same period a year earlier.