Sony Losses Narrow

Officials from Sony Corp. have announced the company’s fourth quarter and full year results. The company’s losses fell to ¥38.7 billion ($357.1m), from ¥111 billion ($1.0bn) a year earlier. Sales during this period rose 7.3%. The operating loss for the company also narrowed in the latest quarter, to ¥109.7 billion ($1.0bn) from ¥116.5 billion ($1.1bn), while sales rose to ¥1.78 trillion ($16.4bn) from ¥1.65 trillion ($15.2bn). Full-year net income fell 24% to ¥88 billion ($812.0m) from ¥115.5 billion ($1.1bn) yen, higher than its earlier forecast of 55 billion ($507.5m) yen. The rise in fortunes was primarily due to hedging against the yen’s gains and a successful mobile phone venture with Ericsson, as well as faster than expected progress in a drive to cut 20,000 jobs in the company within three years. Company representatives refused to comment on the size of the foreign exchange gain or give a breakdown of costs and earnings. The company did admit though, that sales of the PSX multimedia device were below expectations, with the company shipping only 150,000 units by March – making it unlikely that it will meet its first year target of 1 million units. Source: Bloomberg