Panasonic India Pvt Ltd, the consumer durable arm of the Japanese major , reported a nearly 9 per cent drop in revenues for the financial year ended March 31, 2020.

According to the financial data sourced from business intelligence platform Tofler, the company’s revenues stood at ₹4,337.85 crore in FY20, compared with ₹4,781.80 crore in FY19. The company’s losses also widened to ₹489.75 crore in FY20 from ₹459.58 crore in FY19.

In an emailed response toqueries from BusinessLine , Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India & South Asia, said that the overall sales for FY20 were impacted by economic vulnerabilities including a slowdown, falling GDP and a depreciating rupee that limited discretionary spends and impacted purchase decisions. “Also, the fourth quarter is the peak season for air conditioner sales, accounting for 40 per cent of total sales, which were severely impacted due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak,” he added.

“While the company’s sale of consumer durable products for the year has slightly dipped vis-à-vis last year, the proceeds from the sale of services have increased by approximately 72 per cent over last year, which demonstrates our directional strategy,” he added.

Tech solutions

Stating that FY20 was a critical year for restructuring, the company added that it has stepped up investments in building solutions and technology capabilities. “With a sharp focus on our India Innovation Centre (IIC), Panasonic’s innovation hub, FY20 was successfully marked with the launch of our connected living platform Miraie and our integrated smart factory solutions, adding enhanced value to both consumers and enterprises,” Sharma said.

Talking about future strategies, Sharma added, “We will continue to focus on building capabilities and deliver smart solutions and services. Towards this, we are targeting to achieve ₹1,000 crore in revenue from our smart factory solutions business in the next five years. As part of our business strategy, we are expanding the Miraie-Connected Living range of products and launching new service solutions,” Sharma added.

Earlier this month, Panasonic India announced that it will begin manufacturing consumer durable products such as air-conditioners and refrigerators for select local brands at its factory in Jhajjar, Haryana. The company believes this will enable domestic companies to reduce dependency on imports, drive up local consumption and exports.

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