TOKYO -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Corp. said Friday its group net profit for the year through March jumped 41%, as it slashed costs and ramped up production capacity of consumer electronics such as flat-screen televisions.

The Osaka-based maker of Panasonic-brand goods said its full-year group net profit rose to ¥217.19 billion from ¥154.41 billion. Group sales gained 2.4% to ¥9.108 trillion from ¥8.894 trillion.

The company said it faced stiff price competition globally and higher raw-materials expenses. But strong sales of electronic goods such as flat-panel TVs and digital cameras, cost cuts and the yen's weakness led to an 11% rise in group operating profit, the best gauge of mainline business operations, to ¥459.54 billion.

Matsushita is the world's No. 1 maker of large-screen TVs based on plasma-display technology, which competes with liquid-crystal-display technology. The company has been able to boost its profits even as per-unit prices have plummeted by increasing production to take advantage of economies of scale.

For the just-ended fiscal year, the company saw its operating profit climb 15% to ¥219.6 billion at its consumer-electronics division. The company has invested heavily in its production capabilities. In January it said it would build the world's largest PDP factory, which is to begin operations in May 2009.

In the current fiscal year, the company is predicting a 15% rise in group net profit to ¥250 billion, on a 1.6% rise in sales to ¥9.25 trillion.

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