Sony buoyed by camera demand

Sony Corp, the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker, said that its profit climbed to the highest in three quarters, buoyed by demand for Cyber-shot cameras and the sale of real estate property.

Net income increased to 73.7 billion yen ($646 million), or 70.09 yen a share, in the three months that ended on September 30, from 1.7 billion yen, or 1.60 yen, a year earlier.

Sales gained 12 percent to 2.08 trillion yen, the Tokyo-based company announced in a statement which was filed yesterday to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Sony kept its key profitability target unchanged, the cornerstone of Chairman Howard Stringer's plan to breathe new life into a company that's lost about a quarter of its market value over the past five months.

Key quarter

Meeting the goal may hinge on the ability to boost sales this quarter, the year's biggest period for earnings, and reduce losses at the PlayStation gaming unit.

"Investors are keen to know Sony's view for this quarter," Osamu Hirose, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center in Tokyo, said prior to the announcement of the company's results.

"Investors are taking it for granted that the company will meet its profitability target this fiscal year," added Hirose.

Sony was projected to post net income of 83.5 billion yen, operating profit of 98.9 billion yen and revenue of 2.08 trillion yen, according to the median of five analyst estimates surveyed by Bloomberg.

Forecast raised

The company raised its net income forecast for the fiscal year to 330 billion yen, citing gains from the sale of property.

The company also raised projections for operating income and revenue.

The operating margin, the portion of sales left after deducting manufacturing costs and administrative expenses, will climb to 5 percent in the year ending March 2008, the company said yesterday, keeping the target unchanged since 2005.

Bloomberg News

(China Daily 10/26/2007 page16)