Panasonic earnings up 51% on higher appliance sales

MANILA, Philippines - Higher retail sales of home appliances resulted in an earnings surge for Panasonic Manufacturing Philippines Corp. in the April to December period last year.

In a regulatory filing, the appliance manufacturer and importer said its net income spiked 51.4 percent to P96.97 million in the nine-month period of its fiscal year from P64.07 million a year ago.

“Consolidated sales for fiscal year 2013 increased by 1.5 percent due mainly to the increase in retail sales of home appliance products like refrigerator, freezer, airconditioner and washing machine especially during our April to June operation,” Panasonic said.

Sales rose 1.5 percent to P5.07 billion from P5 billion a year ago while cost of sales grew 2.6 percent to P3.66 billion from P3.56 billion.

“Cost of goods sold ratio increased to 72.1 percent from 71.3 percent in 2012 mainly due to higher cost of imported materials due to the depreciation of the peso versus the dollar and increased fixed cost due to the company’s project innovation, which include mainly the renovation of factory plant,” Panasonic said.

Panasonic is a manufacturer, importer and distributor of electronic, electrical, mechanical, electro-mechanical appliances and other types of machinery.

The company said it also recorded a P44.6-million improvement in non-operating income, mainly driven by a decrease in miscellaneous expenses amounting to P61.4 million that it incurred in 2012 as retirement benefit to 84 employees.

Panasonic, which was originally set up as Festival Manufacturing Corp. in 1963, secures bulk of its sales from the domestic market while the remaining is taken up by exports in countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangladesh and Cambodia.

The group’s business segments and products are divided into Global Consumer Marketing Sector that includes audio, video, home appliances; System Network Company that includes communication and security equipment; Ecology Sector that lists environment friendly products; and other products composed of industrial cooling systems.

The firm has a manufacturing plant for refrigerators, electric fans, air-conditioners, washing machines and flashlights in Carmelray Industrial Park II in Laguna.

Early in 2009, the company stopped the operation of its battery unit in the municipality of Taytay in Rizal to cut operating costs. Panasonic also holds a 40-percent stake in realty brokerage firm Precision Electronics Realty Corp.