Matsushita posts sharp rise in profits

Japanese consumer electronics giant Matsushita http://www.matsushita.com has reported a sharp rise in its latest quarterly profits and has raised its full-year outlook. As the Financial Times (FT) http://www.ft.com reports, the Osaka-based group said that its third-quarter net income rocketed 47 per cent to 35.6 billion yen (263 million euros) due to strong sales of its core products. Sales rose by 13 per cent to 2,297 billion yen (17 billion euros). Its full-year operating profit was forecast to reach 300 billion yen (2.2 billion euros), up from 280 billion yen (2.07 billion euros), but the net profit estimate was cut from 63 billion yen (465.9 million euros) to 50 billion yen (369 million euros) as a result of deferred tax payments and higher restructuring costs.