Sony Narrows Loss Forecast on Image Sensors, PlayStation

by Pavel AlpeyevGrace Huang

(Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp. narrowed its full-year loss forecast by 26 percent, citing strong demand for the image sensors used by competing smartphone makers and Christmas sales of the PlayStation 4 console.
The net loss in the year to March 31 will probably reach 170 billion yen ($1.4 billion), the Tokyo-based company said in a statement today. That compares with the 230 billion-yen loss it forecast earlier and the average expectation for a 179.5 billion-yen shortfall, based on 17 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
A restructuring push under Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida has seen the company quit personal computers and put its TV manufacturing unit into a new division as it focuses on games, financial services and content to power earnings. Sony is investing 105 billion yen to
accelerate a shift to image sensors at its chip unit for supplying its own mobile devices and those made by competitors, including Apple Inc.

“Games and image sensors are doing great, even as impressions from digital cameras and televisions are less favorable,” Yu Okazaki, an analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Tokyo, said before the release. “The company’s full-year outlook was quite conservative coming out of the first-half result, suggesting there is room at the top.”

Job Cuts

The company will cut 2,100 jobs from its mobile business the end of fiscal 2015.
In January, Sony sought permission to delay the release of its final quarterly earnings because of the disruptions caused by last year’s crippling attack on its computer systems, which U.S. officials blamed on North Korea. Sony said it was unable to produce a full third-quarter report by the expected deadline and was cleared to file its final earnings statement by March 31, the last day of the fiscal year.
The company raised its annual sales forecast to 8 trillion yen from 7.8 trillion yen. Sony expects an operating profit of 20 billion yen after previously forecasting an operating loss of 40 billion yen.
Sony also reported preliminary quarterly earnings, with net income in the three months ended Dec. 31 of 89 billion yen. That compares with the 45.3 billion-yen average profit of four analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Sales for the quarter were 2.56 trillion yen, compared with the 2.35 trillion-yen average of seven analysts’ estimates.