Panasonic Corp. has obtained a credit line of ¥600 billion from its four main creditor banks in a move to help the struggling electronics maker diversify funding options, sources said Tuesday.
Of the four banks, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. offered ¥250 billion and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ ¥200 billion, they said.
Panasonic, which logged a group net loss of ¥772.17 billion for fiscal 2011, returned to the black in the April-June quarter thanks to a series of restructuring measures.
But the global economic slowdown and the impact of a Chinese boycott of Japanese products over the Senkaku dispute still weighs on its earnings outlook. Cash reserves as of the end of June stood at around ¥550 billion, compared with roughly ¥2 trillion as of the end of September 2010. The commitment line was set up Oct. 1.