Panasonic losses cut after sales grow

A recovery in global sales helped electronics group Panasonic to cut its losses in the first three months of 2010.

The world's biggest maker of plasma televisions said it lost 88.9bn yen ($971m; £659.6m) in the period, against a 444.3bn yen loss a year earlier.

Quarterly sales leapt by 16% to 2.198 trillion yen.

Panasonic said it was focussing on emerging markets and the growth of 3D televisions.

At the end of last year, Panasonic bought a majority 50.2% stake in Sanyo, 13 months after first expressing an interest in the firm.

It had pursued its rival largely because of its solar-panel and battery businesses, which are expected to benefit from consumer enthusiasm for energy-efficient technology.

Besides its televisions, Panasonic said its refrigerators and washing machines business had improved in Europe.

However, the risk of a strengthening yen - which reduces the value of profits made overseas when brought back to Japan - and intensifying global competition meant the outlook remained "unpredictable", it said.