UPDATE 3-Panasonic Q2 profit down 19 pct, keeps outlook

* Q2 operating profit down 19 pct on firmer yen * Keeps full-year outlook despite economic slowdown * Says could revise forecast after the holiday season

(Adds president comments, details, background)

By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Sachi Izumi

TOKYO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp (6752.T) posted a 19 percent fall in quarterly profit, as the global slowdown boosted the yen and hit sales of factory equipment and digital cameras, but it kept an outlook that exceeds market estimates.

The Japanese electronics maker is sticking to its forecast of an 8 percent rise in profit this fiscal year despite the tough business environment that has forced peers like Sony Corp (6758.T) and Sharp Corp (6753.T) to cut their forecasts.

But the company warned that it could revise its earnings outlook after the critical holiday season.

"It is extremely difficult to come up with accurate earnings forecasts because of the violent moves in foreign exchange rates and share prices," Panasonic director Makoto Uenoyama told a news conference on Tuesday.

"We plan to make a decision (on the full-year outlook) after watching our third-quarter performance," he said.

Panasonic, which competes with Sony and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) in flat TVs, stood by its operating profit forecast of 560 billion yen ($6 billion) for the year to March.

That is up from 519.48 billion yen last year and compares with a consensus of 530.6 billion yen in a poll of 20 analysts by Reuters Estimates.

Its outlook could come under pressure if the yen stays at the current level of below 95 yen JPY= versus the dollar, because the company estimates the dollar will average 100 yen and the euro 135 yen in the second half. The euro is currently trading around 118 yen. EURJPY=R

Tomomi Yamashita, senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management, said the results came as no surprise because of earlier media reports, but they underline that Panasonic's earnings are less vulnerable to the global slowdown than other firms because of its diversified business portfolio.

"It differs from Sony and Sharp in that its business portfolio does not put a lot of weight on one operation," he said.

BULLISH ON CELLPHONES

In the July to September quarter, operating profit came to 118.6 billion yen, down from 146.1 billion yen a year earlier, as the slower economy prompted companies to rein in capital spending, dampening demand for its factory automation equipment.

Quarterly net profit fell 16 percent to 55.5 billion yen on sales of 2.19 trillion yen, down 4 percent.

Panasonic joined bigger rivals Sony and Canon Inc (7751.T) in sounding a bearish note on digital camera sales.

The maker of Viera flat TVs and Lumix digital cameras said it now expects to miss by 10 percent its target of shipping 13 million digital cameras in the year to next March.

The company said, however, its flat TV sales have largely been in line with its original expectations, and kept unchanged its targets to sell 6 million units of plasma TVs and 5 million units of LCD TVs in the current business year.

Another bright spot is its mobile phone operation.

Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo said its mobile phone sales this year will likely exceed last year's 7.28 million units.

In contrast, Sharp this month cut its annual operating profit outlook by one-third due to sluggish cellphone demand in Japan.

"We are on track to take back the No.1 position in Japan," Ohtsubo told reporters.

Behind Sharp, Panasonic was the second-largest mobile phone supplier in the Japanese market in the year ended March, according to MM Research Institute.

Ohtsubo said Panasonic ought to expand its mobile phone operations to overseas markets after the three years covered by its current mid-term business plan ends in March 2010.

Ahead of the results, Panasonic shares fell to their lowest in more than five years at one stage but they closed up 12.1 percent at 1,406 yen, outperforming Tokyo's electrical machinery index .IELEC.T, which rose 9 percent.

Shares in Panasonic, which changed its name from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co this month, have lost 39 percent this year, while the subindex has fallen 56 percent. (Editing by Chris Gallagher and Sharon Lindores)