TOKYO: Japan’s Sony Group Corp on Friday cut its annual operating profit forecast by 4% to 1.11 trillion yen ($8.37 billion) as it lowered expectations for its key gaming unit.
Sony also posted a 9.6% rise in first-quarter operating profit, beating analyst estimates, boosted by demand for its movies and television shows.
Sony revised down the annual profit forecast for the gaming unit by 16%, citing an expected fall in sales of games from external developers while booking expenses from an earlier-than-expected closing of its deal for “Halo” creator Bungie.
The conglomerate said in May it aimed to sell 18 million of its hit PlayStation 5 consoles this fiscal year as supply chain snarls ease and it ramps up production.
Sony sold 11.5 million units in the year ended March. Sony sold 2.4 million PS5 units in the first quarter, a slight increase from the same period a year earlier.
Tokyo stocks close higher on hopes for brisk earnings
Upcoming PlayStation titles include “God of War Ragnarok” due for release in November.
Operating profit in the April to June quarter was 307 billion yen, compared with an estimated average profit of 289 billion yen from seven analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
Last year, Sony booked a record 1.2 trillion yen profit, bolstered by demand for its entertaiment content. Sony shares closed flat ahead of earnings.
The group’s shares have lost around a fifth of their value this year, compared with a 3% drop in the blue-chip benchmark Nikkei 225 .
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.