Japan's Panasonic upgrades full-year outlook

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic on Thursday revised up its full-year profit and revenue outlook following the weakness of the yen in the wake of Donald Trump's election as US president.

Panasonic, which slashed its annual forecasts three months ago, said it now expects net profit to come in at 130 billion yen ($1.2 billion) for the fiscal year through March, up from its earlier estimate of 120 billion yen.

The company also raised its revenue expectation, saying full-year sales would come in at 7.35 trillion yen, up from 7.2 trillion yen projected earlier.

"The company took into account the effect of exchange rates, as the yen has become lower since the time of the last announcement on October 31, 2016," the company said in a statement.

Panasonic and other major Japanese companies doing business abroad have benefitted from a weak yen, which inflates the value of their repatriated profits.

"After Brexit, the yen surged, prompting many Japanese electronics makers to see their profits fall and revise down their outlooks," said Masahiko Ishino, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.

"But the recent retreat of the yen in the wake of Trump's victory is offsetting the negative impact," Ishino said.

Trump's shock victory in November's US presidential election pushed the dollar higher on expectations of his pro-growth economic agenda.

For the nine months to December, Panasonic said it had recorded net profit of 175.4 billion yen, up 9.5 percent from the same period last year thanks mainly to one-off tax-related gains.

Operating profit, however, tumbled by nearly a quarter while revenue was off 5.7 percent to 5.35 trillion yen.

Best known abroad for electronics, Panasonic has shifted to other sectors, including energy and an auto division that makes products from electrical components to navigation systems.

"We need to keep watching its business deal with Tesla, which may have a remarkable impact on the outlook for Panasonic," said Tokai Tokyo's Ishino, who spoke before Panasonic's results came out.

Panasonic and US electric car maker Tesla have agreed to start working together on solar energy products.

The pair have already teamed up on the world's biggest lithium-ion battery factory in the US state of Nevada.