Sony Corp posted a net loss of $2.09 billion for the October-December quarter due to the yen's
strength, slumping television sales and output disruptions from the
flooding in Thailand, the company said Thursday.
Last year the maker of PlayStation gaming consoles made a net
profit of 72.3 billion yen in the same period.
Sony said it expected to end the current financial year in the red
for the fourth straight year, with a net loss of 220 billion yen,
much larger than the 90-billion-yen loss that it projected three
months ago.
The company also expected an operating loss of 95 billion yen for
the year, a reversal from an operating profit of 20 billion yen
predicted in November. Sales are now projected at 6.4 trillion yen,
down from an earlier 6.5-trillion-yen forecast.
Sony said it booked an operating loss of 91.7 billion yen for the
October-December period, compared with an operating profit of 137.5
billion yen a year earlier, while its sales for the quarter dropped
17.4 per cent to 1.82 trillion yen.
Sony has struggled to catch up with major producers of smartphones
and tablet computers such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co.
On Wednesday, the company said Kazuo Hirai, who oversees the
company's consumer electronics and video games divisions, will
replace Howard Stringer as president and chief executive as of April
1.
Hirai, 51, currently the company's executive deputy president, who
turned around the PlayStation business, was considered the
frontrunner to succeed Stringer.
The company said it plans to make its money-losing television
business profitable by the financial year through March 2014.
Shares in Sony closed down 2.64 per cent before the release of the
earnings result.
