FILE PHOTO: The Panasonic booth is shown during the 2020 CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 7, 2020. REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo
TOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp (6752.T) on Monday reported a 3% rise in third-quarter operating profit, beating analyst estimates, aided by cost cuts and an improvement at the joint battery business with Tesla Inc (TSLA.O).
Panasonic, which supplies battery cells for electric vehicles (EVs) made by Tesla, posted a profit of 100.4 billion yen ($915.22 million) for the October-December period, versus 97.6 billion yen a year earlier.
The result compared with an average estimate of 67.36 billion yen from eight analysts polled by Refinitiv.
Panasonic maintained its profit forecast for the year through March at 300 billion yen, above an average estimate of 295.14 billion yen from 20 analysts.
Its battery business with Tesla improved sharply as the Gigafactory 1 plant in Nevada expanded production after several years of delays at the U.S. partner.
Tesla last week reported a second quarterly profit in a row as vehicle deliveries hit a record. The company said it would comfortably make more than half a million units this year, pushing its shares to new highs.
Panasonic has been struggling to find new growth drivers as its strategic shift from low-margin consumer electronics to factory automation devices and automotive components has suffered a setback due to a prolonged Sino-U.S. trade war and higher-than-expected development costs.
As investments in the new businesses have failed to produce solid returns, it now prioritize cost cuts over growth, divesting unprofitable businesses and reorganizing product portfolio.
Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Himani Sarkar
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