Sony Corporation forecasts 30% surge in annual operating profit

Following a successful second quarter in 2018, Sony Corporation is forecasting a 30% increase in its annual consolidated operating income, driven by the impact of the consolidation of EMI Music Publishing and upward revisions in several segments particularly in the Game & Network Services segment.

Sony now expects annual operating income of US$7.7 billion (¥870 billion), a significant rise from the first quarter’s outlook of US$6 billion (¥670 billion). Meanwhile, the consolidated sales forecast has increased US$893 million (¥100 billion) from the previous quarter forecast of US$76.7 billion (¥8.6 trillion).

For the second quarter ending 30 September 2018, Sony Corporation registered a 17% year-on-year increase to US$2.14 billion (¥239.5 billion) and a 6% year-on-year increase to US$19.5 billion (¥2.18 trillion) on its sales and operating revenue as compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

“We got off to a strong start in Q1 FY2018 and were able to sustain momentum in the second quarter. We remain confident of achieving our targets in 2019, given that we have a strong line-up of high-value products that we will launch in the market. Here in the region, we are focusing our efforts on strengthening sales of high-value products such as the new BRAVIA Master Series, the WH-1000XM3 noise cancelling headphones and our top-of-the-line range of mirrorless cameras,” said Fumiatsu Hirai, Managing Director, Sony Middle East and Africa.

The positive growth in Sony’s financial results was spurred by strong sales in the Game & Network Services (G&NS) segment, which includes gaming software and the PlayStation® Plus (“PS Plus”). The G&NS division achieved a 27% year-on-year increase on its second quarter sales of US$4.9 billion (¥550.1 billion) as compared to last year’s US$3.8 billion (¥433.2 billion).

The Imaging Products & Solutions (IP&S) segment also recorded a 5 % rise year-on-year and achieved US$1.46 billion (¥163.9 billion) sales and an operating income of US$195 million (¥21.8 billion) in the second quarter. Although there is a decrease in unit sales of digital cameras due to market impact, the segment’s continuous growth was attributed to an increase in sales of high value-added products particularly in interchangeable mirrorless cameras and lenses as well as an increase in sales of high value-added products.

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Meanwhile, for the Home Entertainment & Sound (HE&S) segment, the second quarter sales decreased by 9 % year-on-year to US$2.45 billion (¥274.9 billion) while the operating income recorded was flat year-on-year, achieving US$218.7 million (¥24.5 billion) for the same period compared to last year. The result was due to a decrease in unit sales of televisions and a shift to high value-added models that were offset by the impact of foreign exchange rates and lower sales.