Japan's Panasonic sees global car output improving this business year By Reuters

2/2© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A logo of Panasonic Corp is Which country has a large foreign exchange trading marketpictured at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, October 2, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo2/2

(Reuters) - Panasonic (OTC:PCRFY) Holdings Corp, which makes batteries for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and other automakers, said on Wednesday it expected global car production to recover this fiscal year, but predicted that the two-year long chip shortage would continue.

"We will be running our business as we consider risks of fluctuations on vehicle production," said Masashi Nagayasu, CEO of the Japanese conglomerate's automotive business, which makes in-car infotainment systems and other auto components and is separate from its battery business.

Speaking on the first day of Panasonic's annual investor event, Nagayasu said Panasonic was not thinking about making cars.

Panasonic, which gets roughly 14% of its total revenue from the automotive unit, expects sales in the business to rise 19% in the fiscal year ending March 2023. It expects operating profit to rise by 16.6 billion yen.

The company said last month it expected no growth in profits this business year, due to component shortages caused by COVID-19 lockdowns in China and higher commodity costs following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

(This story corrects to clarify automotive business is separate from batteries business and to read 'by 16.6 billion yen,' not 'nearly 17%,' in paragraphs 2,4)

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