Matsushita Profit Rises More Than Twelvefold

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the Japanese maker of Panasonic products, said Thursday that its fiscal first-quarter profit increased more than twelvefold.

Net income for the quarter ended June 30 was $302 million, or 13 cents a share, up from $24.8 million, or 1 cent, last year. Sales for the Osaka-based company rose 19% to $19.3 billion from $16.2 billion.

The world’s largest consumer electronics company said it got a boost in sales in advance of the Summer Olympics in Athens. In anticipation of increased demand for flat-panel televisions and digital recorders, Matsushita introduced a line of TVs and five DVD recorders in June.

More happenstance was the unusually hot weather in Japan this spring, increasing demand for air conditioners made by the firm’s home appliance division.

And it turned out that consumers in Japan had more money to spend -- traditional summer bonuses to workers increased to a record average of $7,620.

The fact that profit growth far outstripped the growth in sales was attributed by the company to cost reductions. Also, a transfer of some employee pension funds to the Japanese government yielded $740 million in income.

“You might find it good if you just look at its profit growth in the first quarter,� said Fujio Ando, senior managing director at Chibagin Asset Management. “But when you look at its sales, it’s kind of disappointing.�

Matsushita’s U.S. shares fell 18 cents to $13.07 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bloomberg News and Reuters were used in compiling this report.