Consumer electronics giant Panasonic today reported its first full-year profit for three years, helped by the weaker yen. Panasonic posted profits of 120.4bn yen ($1.2bn) for the year to March, compared with a 754bn yen loss a year earlier.

The company said cost cutting had boosted its profitability and forecasts a 16% jump in net profit to 140bn yen for the current financial year.

Sales in Panasonic's appliances division rose by 10% from one year ago, which was mainly driven by a surge in consumer spending in Japan ahead of the rise in the country's consumption tax.

In the meantime, focusing on profitability rather than sales volume, sales in the company's digital consumer-related business decreased.