Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., maker of the Panasonic brand, said Friday that its group net profit jumped 78.7 percent to 115.1 billion yen in the April-September period, thanks to brisk sales of its flat-panel plasma televisions and air conditioners.
The company's sales climbed to a record 4.39 trillion yen, up 3.1 percent, in its first half of the current fiscal year.
Operating profit also rose 21.2 percent to 207.4 billion yen, the highest in 16 years, while pretax profit was 232.5 billion yen, up 50.8 percent from the same period last year.