TOKYO, July 30 — Japan’s Panasonic said today its full-year net profit would plunge more than 50 per cent as the coronavirus pandemic battered its businesses at home and overseas.
The consumer electronics giant, which had delayed an annual forecast because of ongoing uncertainty, now projects a net profit of ¥100 billion (RM4.04 billion) for the fiscal year to March, down 55.7 per cent from the previous year.
Full-year sales are forecast to fall 13.2 per cent to ¥6.5 trillion.
Panasonic made the warnings as it logged a net loss of ¥9.8 billion for the three months to June, compared with a net profit of ¥49.8 billion in the same quarter last year.
“Domestic sales decreased due mainly to the impact of the spread of Covid-19,” it said in a statement, adding that the pandemic also affected its businesses overseas.
The firm said it was hopeful about an easing of the outbreak in the second half of the current fiscal year, but warned that it expected the impact of the pandemic to continue to hit “aviation, housing-related and automobile industries”.
Rival Sony is scheduled to announce its quarterly figures next week. — AFP
