(Corrects paragraph 7 to clarify that Panasonic has decided to introduce a data centre battery cell production line in the U.S., not started producing yet)
TOKYO, May 12 (Reuters) – Panasonic Holdings flagged an aggressive push to lift profit through artificial intelligence-linked products on Tuesday even as its electric-vehicle battery unit struggled in the latest year and missed its full-year target.
The Japanese group aims to grow its total adjusted operating profit to 750 billion yen ($4.76 billion) or more for the fiscal year through March 2029, driven by a 130-billion-yen boost linked to AI infrastructure, the company said in presentation materials on its growth strategy released at the same time as its full-year earnings.
Most of the AI-linked profit growth will come from the energy unit, which supplies batteries to Tesla, and the industry segment.
The bullish outlook on AI-linked growth comes after the energy business performed much more weakly in vehicle batteries, hit by U.S. tariffs, startup costs at a new U.S. plant and lower sales from Japan.
Operating profit at the energy unit is expected to total 171 billion yen in the fiscal year ending March 2027, compared to 69.8 billion yen for the year just ended and after the business posted a 3.8-billion-yen loss in the January to March quarter.
In the past financial year, Panasonic Energy’s profit declined 42% as falling in-vehicle battery earnings outweighed gains in industrial and consumer storage.
The company said the unit has started shipping battery cells for data centre applications in Japan and has decided to introduce a production line for such uses at its plant in the U.S. state of Kansas.
Panasonic shares, which have surged about 68% this year, ended just below a record high on Tuesday.
($1 = 157.4500 yen)
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christian Schmollinger)
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