Tokyo: Japan's Panasonic on Monday cut its annual profit and revenue forecasts, blaming the impact of a strong yen and a poor showing in its solar panel business.
The firm -- which has been undergoing a huge restructuring after record losses -- said it now expects net profit to come at 120 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for the fiscal year through March, down 17 percent from an earlier projection.
It also cut a revenue target again, saying full-year sales would come in at 7.2 trillion yen, down five percent from the earlier projection.
Panasonic and other major Japanese firms doing business abroad have been stung by a sharp rally in the yen, which shrinks the value of their repatriated profits.
For its fiscal year first half, Panasonic said it had a net profit of 119.9 billion yen, up 7.7 percent from a year earlier thanks mainly to one-off gains.
However, operating profit tumbled by more than a quarter while revenue was off 7.0 percent at 3.5 trillion yen.
The decline was partly due to weaker demand for household solar energy systems, Panasonic said."The impact of foreign exchange rates has overshadowed sales," Nomura analyst Yu Okazaki said before Monday's financial results.
"Panasonic is now focusing on advance investment in selective sectors such as auto-related and business-to-business markets. "But it may take some time to bear fruit."
Best known abroad for electronics, Panasonic has shifted its attention to lesser-known endeavours, including energy and an auto division that makes various products found in vehicles, from electrical components to navigation systems.
Last year, Panasonic announced a buyout plan for Hussmann, a US-based food refrigeration systems company, for $1.54 billion as part of its drive to expand into the US food retail sector.
