Sony Profits Rise to $4.5 Billion

For the full fiscal year, Sony Corporation recorded profits of 490.8 billion yen ($4.5 billion).

Consolidated sales for the fiscal year ended March 31 were 8.544 trillion yen ($77 billion), an increase of 12 percent compared to the previous fiscal year, and consolidated operating income was 734.9 billion yen ($6.6 billion), 2.5 times that of the previous fiscal year. Net income attributable to Sony Corporation’s stockholders was 490.8 billion yen, 6.7 times that of the previous fiscal year.

In the Pictures segment, sales increased 12 percent year-on-year and operating income was up to 41.1 billion ($376 million). There was an increase in sales for Media Networks, with higher advertising and subscription revenues resulting from the acquisition of TEN Sports Network and improved ratings, both in India.

“This is the first time since we began to disclose segment forecasts in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, that this segment has achieved the forecast issued at the beginning of the fiscal year,” said CFO Hiroki Totoki. “Thanks to hits like Spider-Man: Homecoming and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the profit from the film slate exceeded our original forecast. We are beginning to see the fruits of the Motion Picture group’s focus on content IP and financial discipline under the leadership of Tom Rothman, who has run the Motion Pictures business since February 2015.”

There was an increase in sales for television productions, with higher licensing revenues for various U.S. television series but lower TV licensing revenues for catalog product.

Full-year 2018 sales are expected to decrease 5 percent, primarily due to the impact of foreign exchange rates, and operating income is expected to be 42 billion yen, essentially flat year-on-year.