TOKYO (AP) — Japanese consumer electronics giantPanasonic Corp. said Wednesday its quarterly
earnings surged more thaneight-fold last quarter, helped by the weaker yen and a one-time boostfrom a
change in its corporate pension scheme.The company alsocredited strength in its automotive and
housing-related divisions forhelping to offset weakness in sales of its traditional business
ofelectronic appliances.The 107.8 billion yen ($1.1 billion) netprofit in April-June was up from net
profit of 12.8 billion a yearearlier.The company said the change in the pension scheme — to onethat pays
out based on contributions rather than a predefined benefit —yielded a one-time gain of 79.8 billion yen
($810 million).Forthe fiscal year through March 2014, Panasonic kept its net profitforecast at 50
billion yen. It recorded a near record loss of 754.25billion yen in the fiscal year that ended in
March.But the company still expects sales to weaken to 7.2 trillion yen in the current year, down 1.4
percent from the previous year.TheOsaka-based company, which makes Viera TVs and Lumix digital
cameras,is battling plunging prices and weak sales in Japan, despite a nascenteconomic recovery. It says
it is making progress in trimming itsunprofitable businesses.The modest economic recovery since latelast
year, attributed to stimulus policies championed by Prime MinisterShinzo Abe, has helped, said Hideaki
Kawai, Panasonic’s managingdirector in charge of accounting and finance."The general feelingis that
things are getting better," he said. "But from here on out weare looking for an impact from
other measures such as reducing corporatetaxes."Panasonic’s sales rose 1 percent to 1.82 trillion
yen($18.5 billion). An 8 percent increase in overseas sales helped offset a6 percent decline in domestic
revenue, though in real terms thatexclude exchange rate effects global sales also fell.Panasonicderives
nearly half of its total revenue from sales in Japan. Thecompany, established in 1918, rivaled Sony
Corp. during Japan’s rapidindustrialization following World War II. But it has been battered by
anonslaught of competition from relative newcomers such as South Korea’sSamsung Electronics Co.While
trying to repair its ailing TVbusiness, Panasonic has been shifting away from consumer electronicstoward
other businesses such as batteries and solar panels. It remainsstrong in household appliances, an area
that should benefit from abuilding boom associated with Abe’s economic policies.Sales atthe company’s
"eco-solutions" business, which makes energy efficientproducts such as solar panels and LED
bulbs, rose 6 percent and profitfrom the business jumped more than three-fold. Panasonic said demand
wasfueled by higher electricity prices.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.