Panasonic Corp., seeking to recover from a record annual loss, posted its first profit in six quarters after cutting jobs and shutting factories.
Net income totaled ¥12.81 billion in the three months that ended June 30, compared with a ¥30.4 billion net loss a year earlier, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
That beat the ¥9.2 billion average of three analysts' estimates.
Panasonic kept its full-year profit forecast unchanged.
The maker of Viera televisions and Lumix cameras is trying to turn around its unprofitable TV, electronic component and battery operations this fiscal year after closing plants and eliminating 36,000 jobs amid falling prices and a surging yen.
President Kazuhiro Tsuga, who replaced Fumio Otsubo last month, has pledged to revive the firm "by all means."
"Tsuga will probably need to take further measures to fix the unprofitable operations of panels, semiconductors and batteries," Yasuo Nakane, a Tokyo-based analyst at Deutsche Bank AG, said before the announcement.
"Investors are expecting to see some sort of reform plan, which may include closure, suspension or sales of some businesses, at around the end of the fiscal first half.," Nakane said.
The consumer electronics giant maintained its earnings outlook for the full year ending next March.
It expects a group net profit of ¥50 billion and an operating profit of ¥260 billion on sales of ¥8.1 trillion.