Panasonic reports 29% drop in annual operating profit

Japan's Panasonic Corp, a top supplier of battery cells to Tesla Inc, reported a 28.6% drop in annual operating profit and did not issue an earnings forecast for the current year due to uncertainty about the impact of the coronavirus.

Panasonic joined a number of Japanese electronics companies that have refrained from providing forecasts, including Sony Corp and Canon Inc, as the virus outbreak hits electronics demand globally.

Operating profit for the year ended in March came in at 293.75 billion yen ($2.74 billion), in line with an average estimate of 295.3 billion yen profit drawn from 17 analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Analysts have forecast an average 225.46 billion yen profit for the current financial year.