Sony's CEO still faces challenges even with activist investor's exit

Tokyo

ACTIVIST investor Daniel Loeb's sale of his Sony Corp stake removes an annoyance for chief executive officer Kazuo Hirai. But the bigger challenges aren't going away.

Two years into a turnaround effort at the Japanese electronics maker, Mr Hirai is struggling to show progress. While Mr Loeb's Third Point LLC, which held swaps and convertible bonds, said it earned 20 per cent on its US$1.1 billion investment since May 2013, the common shares are little changed. Last month, Tokyo-based Sony cancelled its dividend and forecast a 230 billion yen (S$2.73 billion) annual loss.