Panasonic margin target ‘too low’

Tokyo: Panasonic forecast a 31% rise in annual profit on expanding flat TV sales and cost cuts but offered a three-year margin target that raised doubts about its ability to keep pace with Asian rivals.

Under a new business plan, Panasonic said it would aim to roughly double its operating profit margin to 5% or more by March 2013, while boosting sales by a third to €86 billion (10 trillion yen).

The margin forecast is half the 10% initially targeted by president Fumio Ohtsubo when he took the helm of the electronics maker in 2006, and well below the 8% clocked by South Korean rival Samsung Electronics last year.