Sony raises outlook after earnings beat on strength of gaming, music and sensor businesses

By Kosaku Narioka

Sony Group raised its profit forecast for the full fiscal year after reporting higher first-quarter net profit, helped by strong performances in its games, music and imaging sensors segments.

The Japanese entertainment and electronics company said on Wednesday that net profit rose 6.5% from a year earlier to 231.64 billion yen, or $1.60 billion, for the three months ended in June. That topped analysts’ estimates of 214.30 billion yen in a survey by data provider Visible Alpha.

First-quarter revenue rose 1.6% to 3.012 trillion yen.

For the fiscal year ending March 2025, the company forecast net profit would rise 1.0% to 980 billion yen, down from a previous forecast of a 4.7% decline. The company forecast higher operating profit from its games, music, movies and sensors businesses.

Operating profit from the gaming business in the first quarter rose 33% to 65.21 billion yen, as higher software sales and network services revenue offset a decline in console sales. PlayStation 5 units were sold in the period, up from 3.3 million units a year earlier.

Operating profit from the music business rose 17% to Y85.89 billion, helped by higher streaming revenue. Operating profit from the imaging and sensors business more than doubled to Y36.65 billion, partly due to higher sales of sensors used in mobile phones and cameras.

Sony has spent billions of dollars on acquisitions over the past few years to bolster its entertainment content business. Its entertainment businesses, such as games, music and movies, accounted for nearly 60% of total revenue in the fiscal year ended in March, up from about 30% a decade earlier.

Sony’s film division announced in June that it would acquire Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a deal that comes as the U.S. film industry struggles to get more consumers to go to the movies.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at [email protected]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 7, 2024, 04:54 ET (08:54 GMT)