Japanese electronics icon Sony Corp reported yesterday its biggest quarterly loss in four years as its PlayStation 3 console battled fierce competition, while full-year profits edged up 2.2 percent.
But the company forecast a strong rebound in the current year thanks to strong sales of flat-screen televisions and other electronic goods and reduced losses at its video game division.
The company posted a net loss of ?67.56 billion (US$562 million) for the three months to March, worse than the ?66.53 billion loss it suffered a year earlier.
Net profits for the fiscal year to March came to ?126.33 billion, up from ?123.62 billion a year earlier thanks to lower restructuring costs and a strong performance by its mobile telephone joint venture Sony Ericsson.
But operating profits slumped by 68.3 percent to ?71.75 billion, hit by a ?51.2 billion loss caused by the recalls of millions of Sony-made computer batteries and a price cut for the recently launched PlayStation 3.
Sony's videogame division suffered an operating loss estimated at ?232.3 billion for the full-year, compared with a profit of ?8.7 billion a year earlier.
But group revenue jumped 10.5 percent to ?8.29 trillion thanks to brisk sales of TVs and other electronics goods as well as a series of box office hits such as The Da Vinci Code and Casino Royale.
Sony forecast net profits would more than double to ?320 billion in the year to next March on brisk TV sales, continued success at the box office and reduced red ink at its video games division.
Operating profits were expected to soar by more than six-fold to ?440 billion, helped by the sale of a portion of the site of Sony's former headquarters, the company said.
Sony poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and its success is considered vital to the company's future.
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