Sony Records Q1 Loss

TOKYO/CULVER CITY: While Sony Pictures Entertainment delivered an operating profit of $19 million in the first quarter, on revenues of $1.8 billion, parent company Sony Corporation posted a net loss in the period of 37.1 billion yen ($386 million), with revenues down 19.2 percent to 1.6 trillion yen ($16.7 billion).

The company attributed the weakened results to the global economic slowdown and to the appreciation of the yen. Sony Pictures, however, was a bright spot. Boosted by Angels & Demons and Terminator Salvation, SPE posted a 6.5-percent revenue hike. The improvement at the business was also the result of increased television revenues from U.S. network and cable programming, as well as higher ad revenues from its channel in India, thanks to the Indian Premier League. 

Meanwhile, Sony Corp.’s consumer products and devices division saw revenues drop 27.3 percent to 773.4 billion yen ($8.1 billion), with an operating loss of 2 billion yen ($20 million). A fall in PSP and PS3 sales led to a reduction in revenues at the networked products and services segment. The division’s revenues fell 37.4 percent to 246.8 billion yen ($2.6 billion), with an operating loss of 39.7 billion yen ($414 million). B2B and disc manufacturing revenues fell 28.4 percent to 99.1 billion yen ($1 billion), resulting in a loss of 12.4 billion yen ($129 million).

For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, Sony forecasts a 6-percent revenue reduction to 7.3 trillion yen and a loss of 120 billion yen.