Panasonic slashes profit prediction

Yet another manufacturer facing tough time

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28 November 2008 11:29 GMT / By Katie Scott

Panasonic has joined rival Sony in slashing its profit forecasts for this year.

The electronics giant has cut its annual net profit forecast by a whopping 90% as well as announcing plans to restructure.

The move apparently surprises investors, who had believed that "Panasonic was relatively well positioned to cope with the global slowdown thanks to its efficient output structure and diversified business portfolio", reported Reuters.

Panasonic's net profit is now predicted to be 30 billion yen in the current business year, which is down from its previous forecast of 310 billion yen.

"Changes in the business environment over the past few months came with unprecedented intensity and transformed our operational conditions drastically", Panasonic director Makoto Uenoyama told a news conference.