A woman looks at Panasonic’s TV sets at an electronic shop in Tokyo August 3, 2009.

Panasonic Corp., the world’s largest maker of plasma TVs, raised its earnings forecast for the fiscal first half, citing a stabilizing global economy, increased savings and a more favorable currency exchange rate.

Demand is recovering following the implementation of economic stimulus packages by governments worldwide, while reductions in fixed costs are helping to boost profit, Panasonic said. It cited continued economic uncertainty for leaving its annual targets unchanged.

The first-half operating loss, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, will probably be 20 billion yen, narrower than the 105 billion yen forecast in May, Panasonic said.

“Concern over losses getting bigger at Japanese electronic makers is over,” said Koji Toda, chief fund manager at Resona Bank Ltd. in Tokyo, who declines to disclose the amount of assets he oversees. “What I want to see is whether revenue grows because what they’ve been doing up to now is cutting costs.”

Panasonic rose 0.1 percent to close at 1,502 yen in Tokyo trading before the results were announced, extending its gain this year to 35 percent. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average was little changed.

The maker of Viera TVs posted a third straight quarterly loss after the global recession eroded its earnings from TVs and components.

The net loss was 53 billion yen in the three months ended June 30, compared with profit of 73 billion yen a year earlier, Panasonic said.

First-quarter sales fell 26 percent to 1.6 trillion yen. The operating loss was 20.2 billion yen, compared to a profit of 109.6 billion yen a year earlier.

Source: Bloomberg