12:26 AM
Panasonic profit falls on tough rivalry, yen
Addison Ray
TOKYO | Wed Feb 2, 2011 2:01am EST
TOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp posted a worse-than-expected 5.6 percent fall in quarterly profit as tough price competition and a stronger yen offset help from Japan's incentive scheme and its buyout of subsidiary Sanyo Electric.
Panasonic, the world's fourth-largest TV maker after Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Sony Corp, is struggling to catch up in smartphones and tablets, a market dominated by Apple Inc and with Samsung emerging as a key rival.
Investors are eyeing Panasonic's ability to restructure quickly and show benefits after its deal with Sanyo Electric, which is aimed at sharpening the company's focus on environmental technologies like solar power systems and rechargeable batteries.
The company is expected to provide an update on integration plans later this year.
Panasonic reported an operating profit of 95.36 billion yen ($1.17 billion) for October-December, lagging the average forecast of 109.1 billion yen from a poll of six analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The maker of Viera TVs and Lumix cameras left its full-year profit outlook at 310 billion yen, compared with a consensus of 328 billion yen in a poll of 20 analysts. Operating profit for the year to March 2010 was 190 billion yen.
Panasonic shares have fallen nearly 30 percent from a 14-month high of 1,585 yen reached in January last year, compared with a 5 percent fall in the Nikkei average.
(Reporting by Isabel Reynolds; Editing by Michael Watson)
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