TOKYO (Reuters) – Panasonic Corp said first-quarter operating profit surged more than 27 times, handily beating expectations as demand for home appliances and automotive batteries recovered from a particularly weak COVID-hit year.
Profit for the April-June quarter rose to 104.4 billion yen ($950 million) from 3.8 billion yen a year earlier.
On average, ten analysts expected a 68.8 billion yen profit, according to Refinitiv.
Panasonic, a supplier of batteries to Tesla Inc, has moved away from low-margin consumer electronics, and now focuses on electric car batteries, power storage systems and production machinery.
That said, its home appliances including air conditioners and TVs sold well during the pandemic as people spent more time at home.
Panasonic reaffirmed its full-year forecast of an annual profit of 330 billion yen. That prediction is slightly lower than an average 335.86 billion yen profit forecast from 19 analysts.
($1 = 109.7600 yen)
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Tim Kelly; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
