Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Sony net profit dips on-year but beats estimate

Home National Sony net profit dips on-year but beats estimate
Sony net profit dips on-year but beats estimate

TOKYO – Sony said yesterday that annual net profit dipped 3.5% on-year, but beat its forecast as takings in games and music offset losses in the financial and chip sectors.

 The entertainment and electronics behemoth has been in the spotlight after reports said it was working with Apollo Global Management on a potential joint bid for US film and television giant Paramount Global.

The Japanese company has declined to comment on the reports, which cited anonymous sources saying Sony and Apollo have made a US$26 billion proposal to buy Paramount, the owner of CBS, Comedy Central and MTV.

Such a takeover could strengthen Sony’s massive movie sector behind the mega-grossing “Spider-Man” films, including the Oscar-nominated “Across the Spider-Verse”.
 Yesterday, Sony logged a net profit of 970.6 billion yen (US$6.2 billion) for 2023-24, beating the company’s forecast of 920 billion yen. Sony said it had enjoyed “significant increases in sales” in its game and music sectors, boosted by the weaker yen. Revenue was also up for sensors — used in iPhone cameras — and financial services, although operating income decreased in these segments. For the current financial year, Sony forecast net profits of 925 billion yen.

“Sales are expected to decrease year-on-year primarily due to an expected significant decrease in sales in… financial services” and other businesses, including games, it said. But it predicted better sales for sensors and music, thanks to higher revenues from streaming services.

“Sony owns the rights to original music. That serves as Sony’s cash cow,” Hideki Yasuda at Toyo Securities told AFP before the earnings announcement. Sony Music Entertainment is reportedly preparing to bid against two major private funds for InfoCom, the parent company of a popular Japanese manga app, in a deal said to be worth 200 billion yen (US$1.3 billion).

In 2023-24, Sony sold 20.8 million units of its flagship PlayStation 5 console, almost meeting its target of 21 million, which it had trimmed in February. Yasuda said the console, in its fourth year on the market, may have suffered a reputational hit after Sony PlayStation announced 900 layoffs in February. – Nampa/AFP