The entertainment and consumer electronics giant attributed its record $5.7 billion deficit to the effects of disasters in Japan, a weak global economy and a strong yen as its film unit reported full-year revenue growth, but a lower operating profit.
TOKYO –
Sony Corp. on announced a loss of ¥455 billion ($5.7 billion) for its financial year ended in March, due to the effects of the 2011 disasters in Japan, floods in Thailand that disrupted its supply chain, a weak global economy, a U.S. tax write-down and a strong yen.
According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, the result represents the electronics and entertainment conglomerate’s fourth straight year of losses.
Group revenue for the latest fiscal year fell 9.6 percent to $79.2 billion, though its loss came in below the revised forecast of $6.4 billion that the company issued last month.
Sony Pictures was once again a rare bright spot for the company in terms of sales. It registered revenue growth of 9.6 percent to just over $8 billion. Revenue was actually up 18 percent in dollar terms, but the strong yen reduced the value of those results after currency conversions. Strong theatrical revenue from The Smurfs and Bad Teacher were offset by the underperformance of Arthur Christmas.
The film division contributed $416 million in operating profit to the overall bottom line, but that was down 11.7 percent from last year due to one-off gains in 2010 from sales of Spider-Man merchandising rights and a stake in HBO Latin America.
The crucial consumer products & services division, which includes the struggling TV and game businesses, saw lower results. Revenue fell 18.5 percent to $38.3 billion. Sony is predicting a return to operating income of about $2.2 billion for the year ending March 31, 2013.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
