Panasonic Holdings Corporation raised its operating-profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027, to ¥710 billion on Oct. 30, after stronger battery and data-center storage sales lifted its Energy segment's quarterly profit.
Energy reported ¥55.6 billion in operating profit for July-September, compared with ¥1.2 billion a year earlier. Segment sales rose 46% to ¥331.9 billion, or 36% excluding foreign-exchange effects.
Panasonic attributed the sales growth to higher North American production of in-vehicle batteries, including at its Kansas factory, and stronger sales of energy-storage systems for data centers. It said higher fixed costs at the Kansas factory weighed on the segment's profit.
The latest quarterly profit also exceeded the ¥40.9 billion reported for April-June, the preceding quarter, according to Panasonic's July presentation.
Panasonic raised its full-year Energy operating-profit forecast to ¥198 billion from ¥171 billion. Its group operating-profit estimate increased by ¥120 billion, while its sales forecast rose to ¥8.4 trillion from ¥7.8 trillion. The company linked the group outlook revision to stronger-than-expected growth in AI-related businesses, citing data-center demand.
For the six months ended Sept. 30, group sales increased 7.1% to ¥4.09252 trillion and operating profit rose 120.1% to ¥363.229 billion, Panasonic reported.
The company set its interim dividend at ¥27 per share and raised its full-year dividend forecast to ¥70 per share, ¥30 above the prior fiscal year. Panasonic said its semiannual financial release had not been reviewed by a certified public accountant or audit firm.
Panasonic scheduled its semiannual report filing for Nov. 11 and the dividend payment for Nov. 30.
