Panasonic eyes 13 pct sales growth in BRICs,Vietnam

TOKYO, June 25 (Reuters) - Japan's Panasonic Corp (6752.T) said it aims for double-digit sales growth this business year in the five major emerging markets it focuses on, including China and India, despite an estimated 10 percent decline in overall revenues.

"In our strategic markets of the BRIC nations and Vietnam, we aim for 13 percent growth by expanding our targets to people in the middle-income bracket," Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo told an annual shareholders' meeting on Thursday.

BRIC stands for the high-growth emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Panasonic eked out 2 percent sales growth to 420 billion yen ($4.4 billion) in the five countries in the financial year that ended on March 31, while it suffered a 14 percent fall in total sales and an 86 percent tumble in operating profit as the global downturn dampened demand.

"It is extremely regrettable that we reported a sharp drop in sales and profit. As a person who is in charge of management, I sincerely apologise," Ohtsubo said.

"We are determined to meet shareholders' expectations by achieving stronger growth than competitors' when the economy recovers in the next business year onwards," he said.

Panasonic, which offers Viera flat TVs and Lumix digital cameras, vies with Sony Corp (6758.T) for the position as the world's largest consumer electronics maker.

Besides the BRIC nations and Vietnam, Panasonic has identified such countries as Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey as markets with strong growth potential and is preparing to boost its presence in those countries, Ohtsubo said.

He said its refrigerators and washing machines made a strong debut in Europe, where they were introduced in March, with unit sales exceeding its own targets by 21 percent in April and May. Shares in Panasonic, the world's largest plasma TV maker ahead of Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS) and LG Electronics (066570.KS), were up 1.7 percent at 1,312 yen by late afternoon, underperforming the Nikkei average .N225, which rose 2.7 percent. ($1=95.72 Yen) (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Michael Watson)