TOKYO, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Panasonic Holdings said on Friday that operating profit at its energy unit surged to 55.6 billion yen ($352 million) in the second quarter from 1.2 billion yen a year earlier, boosted by higher sales of in-vehicle batteries and data centre energy storage systems.
Here are more details:
• Panasonic raised the unit's full-year profit forecast for the year ending March 2027 by 16% to 198 billion yen from 171 billion yen previously. The company makes batteries for Tesla and other EV makers.
• It also lifted its group operating profit forecast for the period by 120 billion yen, or 20%, to 710 billion yen, in part due to stronger-than-expected growth in its AI-related businesses
• Panasonic said the unit's quarterly operating profit grew due to higher sales of EV batteries in North America and data centre energy storage systems
• It said demand from strategic customers for in-vehicle batteries continued to significantly outperform the overall market
($1 = 157.8500 yen)
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Sonia Cheema)