Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. reported on Wednesday that consolidated sales declined 4.5 percent to 7.3 trillion yen and operating profit dropped 17.9 percent to 159.1 billion yen in fiscal 1999, mainly due to the appreciation of the yen.
Company officials, however, emphasized that consolidated pretax profit grew 8.1 percent from the previous year, to 218.6 billion yen, for the business year due to the stock sales of an overseas subsidiary.
Net profit soared 636.3 percent to 99.7 billion yen because Matsushita's net profit had sharply dropped in fiscal 1998 due to a change in the taxation system.
By sector, sales of household appliances such as audio visual products and air conditioners declined 8 percent to 3.01 trillion yen, while sales of industrial equipment and information-related products declined 4 percent to 2.76 trillion yen.
In contrast, sales of electronics devices such as semi-conductors and liquid crystal display monitors grew 3 percent to 1.53 trillion yen.
During the business year through March 2001, Matsushita plans to invest 490 billion yen in facilities and equipment, including 315 billion yen in the field of electronics devices.
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