Sony hikes profit forecast on strong gaming business

JAPANESE entertainment and electronics giant Sony upgraded its annual net profit forecast to US$7.0 billion on Thursday (Feb 13) thanks to its strong gaming business.

The conglomerate said it now expects a net profit of 1.08 trillion yen (S$9.44 billion) in the year ending March 31, compared with an earlier projection of 980 billion yen.

It also lifted its annual sales forecast to 13.2 trillion yen, from an earlier estimate of 12.7 trillion yen.

The change came after Sony saw robust sales of its games, music and financial products in October-December, a key holiday shopping season, with the weaker yen also providing a boost.

Sales reached 4.41 trillion yen in the quarter, up 18 per cent on-year, giving a net profit of 373.7 billion yen, which was an increase of three per cent.

Sony said sales in its games segment were boosted by an “increase in sales of hardware due to an increase in unit sales” in the December quarter, while the music business also enjoyed surging sales, thanks to “higher revenues from streaming services”. AFP