Panasonic posts profit in April-June after cost-cuttingJuly 31, 2012 - 17:48 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Panasonic Corp. said Tuesday, July 31 it returned to the black in the April-June quarter, logging a net profit of 12.8 billion ($163 million) mainly on lower costs after cutting more than 38,000 jobs over the last year, AP said. The consumer electronics giant had a net loss of 30.4 billion yen in the same quarter a year earlier. The Osaka-based maker of Viera TVs and Lumix digital cameras said that it turned a profit despite a 6 percent decline in fiscal first quarter sales to 1.815 trillion yen amid weak demand in its Japanese home market. The European financial crisis and the strong yen, which erodes overseas sales when repatriated to Japan, also weighed on the company's performance, it said in a release. Panasonic kept its profit forecast for the full fiscal year through March 2013 unchanged at 50 billion yen ($638 million). Last fiscal year, it reported a record loss of 772.2 billion yen. The company said it slashed its global workforce to about 327,500 as of the end of June from nearly 366,000 a year earlier. Sales of its audio-visual products decreased 20 percent to 360 billion yen on poor demand for flat-panel TVs, but the division managed to swing to a profit of 7.4 billion yen after losing money a year earlier. Profits in its home appliance segment — the biggest of eight business divisions — rose 7 percent on higher sales of refrigerators and washing machines. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. U.S. welcomes efforts to define Armenia-Azerbaijan border The United States welcomes efforts to define the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, says Vedant Patel. Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. |