Sony reduces losses, quarterly sales rise 6.9%

Sony remained in the red in its fiscal third quarter, despite an increase in sales. The company's net loss for the three months to December narrowed to JPY 10.8 billion from JPY 159.0 billion a year earlier, while revenues rose 6.9 percent year-on-year to JPY 1.948 trillion. The operating result was a profit of JPY 46.4 billion, versus a loss of JPY 91.7 billion a year ago, due mainly to fewer one-time charges. 

At Sony Mobile, sales rose 94 percent to JPY 318.8 billion, after Sony bought out Ericsson's share of the company. On a pro forma basis, sales rose 10 percent, helped by higher sales volumes and selling prices for mobile phones, offset by weaker PC sales. The group sold a total 8.7 million smartphones, down slightly from 8.8 million in fiscal Q2. The company targets unit sales of 34 million over the full year, after 24.9 million in the first nine months. The division's operating loss narrowed to JPY 21.3 billion in Q3 from JPY 48.4 billion, after a tax charge in the year-earlier period. 

Sony maintained its full-year outlook for a small increase in revenues, as the depreciation in the yen offsets a weaker outlook for its PC, gaming and consumer electronics businesses. With the pictures and financial services division doing better than expected, the company still expects a small net profit over the full year.