Sony saw its net profit nearly quadruple in the fiscal first quarter to June, to JPY 80.9 billion from JPY 21.2 billion a year ago. The strong result was due to growth in its semiconductors and financial services businesses.
Operating profit rose to JPY 148.9 billion from JPY 57.0 billion a year earlier, helped by a gain of JPY 27.5 billion on the sale of the Huanan camera module business and insurance payments for earthquake damage. In the year-earlier period, Sony took an impairment charge of 20.3 billion for certain camera modules and had JPY 13.6 billion in charges for the Kumamoto earthquake. Operating profit excluding the one-time items was up 10.4 percent year-on-year.
Quarterly revenues increased 15.2 percent to JPY 1.858 trillion. Growth was strongest in semiconductors (+41.4%) and imaging components (+27.3%), and the pictures and music divisions also increased sales. Mobile communications was the one area with lower sales, down 2.5 percent to JPY 181.2 billion, and gaming sales growth slowed to 5.4 percent, to JPY 348.1 billion.
Operating profit from the mobile phone business improved strongly, to JPY 3.6 billion from JPY 0.4 billion a year ago, as cost reductions and positive forex effects helped offset higher components prices and lower sales. Sony shipped 3.4 million smartphones in the quarter, up from 3.1 million a year ago, and reiterated its outlook for shipments up slightly in the full year to 16.5 million.
Sony maintained its full-year forecast for a small profit of JPY 5 billion on sales of JPY 820 billion at the mobile division. The group sales forecast increased slightly to JPY 8.3 trillion from an estimate in April of JPY 8.0 trillion thanks to positive forex effects, while the profit outlook is unchanged.
