Sony Issues Revised Forecast with Unexpected Profit

Sony Issues Revised Forecast with Unexpected Profit

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Tokyo, Japan, May 11, 2010Sony Corporation announced it will see a narrower-than-forecast annual loss and an unexpected operating profit, attributed to cost cuts, milder-than-anticipated price falls and improving conditions at its electronics division.

The news is another positive marker on Sony CEO Howard Stringer’s road to streamline the Tokyo-based consumer electronics giant to offset the negative effects of steadily declining prices for LCD TVs and other CE devices in the recent market downturn.

As part of Stringer’s strategy, Sony has been selling factories, including two of its LCD TV assembly plants in Mexico and Slovakia, to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., and turned to contract manufacturers for production.

On May 10, Sony issued a revised consolidated results forecast for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, from that announced on February 4, 2010, which states it will post a net loss of 41 billion yen ($449 million) for the fiscal year, compared with the February forecast of a 70-billion-yen loss. The company also now expects an operating profit of 32 billion yen for the period, as compared to the prior forecast of a 30-billion-yen loss. It estimates revenue of 7.214 trillion yen, slightly less than its February projection of 7.3 trillion yen.

Sony will officially report its full-year results later in the week and provide earnings estimates for the current fiscal year ending in March 2011. Analysts are forecasting a return to profit for the company after two straight years in the red. sony.com

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