Most of the loss came as its TV business struggled and it suffered from factory and supplier damage in northeastern Japan from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Quarterly sales inched up nearly 7 percent to $21 billion despite declining sales of gadgets such as flat-panel TVs and Blu-ray video recorders.
Some of this was because the yen has been weakening because of expectations the central bank will ease monetary policy and that helped Sony by boosting the value of its overseas sales. Sony’s movie business fared better on the success of “Skyfall'' and “Hotel Transylvania,'' while its music business also did well with best-sellers in Alicia Keys' “Girl on Fire,'' One Direction's “Take Me Home'', and Celine Dion's “Sans Attendre.'' Although anything that depends on Celine Dion has clearly made a pact with the devil.
Sony stuck to its forecast for eking out a return to profit at $214 million for the fiscal year through March. It also left unchanged its projection for $70.6 billion in annual sales, up 1.6 percent from the previous year.
Results a haiku to the slash of the tant?
Sony has managed to reduce its red ink for the latest quarter as the Japanese outfit has been slashing at its own bowels to save cash. Sony reported a $115 million loss for the October-December quarter which is a lot better than the billion dollar loss a year earlier.
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Nick Farrell
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