Sony Revises Profit Forecasts

TOKYO, October 24: Sony
Corporation is the latest company to revise its financial forecasts, lowering
its projected profit for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, to 150 billion
yen ($1.6 billion), 59-percent lower than its profits for fiscal 2008.

Sony had previously
forecast 240 billion yen in profits for the year, on revenues of 9.2 trillion
yen. Its revised target expects revenues of 9 trillion yen, 1-percent higher
than its revenues this year.

The revisions are attributed
to the appreciation of the yen and a projected weaker electronics
business—notably LCD TVs, digital cameras and video cameras—as a
result of the economic downturn.

For the quarter ended
September 30, meanwhile, Sony posted revenues of 2.07 trillion yen, reflecting
a 1-percent fall, and profits of 21 billion yen, a whopping 72-percent decrease
on the year-ago period.

—By Mansha Daswani