Sony has announced that it may be forced to cancel the upward profit guidance included in its February results statement due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Last month the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant upwardly revised its consolidated results forecast for the fiscal year, but explained that the impact of the spread of infection from Covid-19 was not included in that forecast. It has now revealed that the impact “could be large enough to eliminate the entire amount of the upward revision”.
The company last month announced that it had raised its annual operating profit forecast by 5 percent to JPY 880 billion for the financial year ending in March due in part to soaring sales of smartphone image sensors. It also said it expected net profit of JPY 590 billion for the full year compared to the earlier forecast of JPY 540 billion.
Sony added that its 30 April announcement of financial results could be delayed by the global spread of the coronavirus. The company has closed a portion of its offices all over the world, with employees working from home, as well as manufacturing plants in Malaysia and the UK. Its 4 plants in China have re-started operations in increments but supply chain issues remain.
Analog Devices, VMware and Dell have meanwhile all withdrawn their forecasts.
