TOKYO: Struggling electronics giant Sony lost $1.26bn in the fiscal year to March, the once-mighty firm said yesterday, blaming costs tied to its exit from the personal computer business as it undergoes a painful restructuring.
The Japanese firm booked a whopping shortfall of 128.37bn yen ($1.26bn), and forecast a 50bn yen net loss in the current fiscal year to March 2015, as it saw losses narrow in its hard-hit television business.
Revenue increased 14.3 percent to 7.76 trillion yen owing to a weak yen, record sales for its new PlayStation 4 videogames console and strong demand for its smartphones. The company’s woeful bottom line results come a day after it said it would not pay bonuses to senior executives for the third straight year.
Moody’s has downgraded its credit rating on Sony to junk, saying the company must do more to repair its battered balance sheet.
Investors were shocked this month when Sony warned it would lose more than the 110bn yen shortfall it had forecast just three months ago, when it said it would cut 5,000 jobs in its struggling computer and television units. Sony President Kazuo Hirai has led a sweeping restructuring, including asset liquidisation that saw the $1bn sale of Sony’s Manhattan headquarters.
Last week, Sony said it would shutter its ebook Reader Store in Europe and Australia following a similar pullout in North America.
Reports have also said Sony would sell properties at a prestigious Tokyo site where it had its headquarters for six decades. But Hirai has repeatedly shrugged off pleas to abandon the ailing television unit. AFP
