Trade Resources Company News Sony Has Moved Back Into Profit for The Financial Year to 31 March

Sony Has Moved Back Into Profit for The Financial Year to 31 March

Sony has moved back into profit for the financial year to 31 March, reporting profits of 43bn yen (280m), after four consecutive years of losses.

The Japanese firm said it expected earnings to grow by an additional 16 per cent this year to 50bn yen, aided by a restructuring programme and a weaker yen.

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The dollar gained almost 20 per cent against the yen's value compared with the same period last year, helping to strengthen Sony's overseas earnings.

The company was also helped by its restructuring programme, which saw it axe 10,000 jobs or six per cent of the global workforce in the past 12 months, and its decision to sell its New York headquarters to retail estate investor The Chetrit Group for $1.1bn (690m), and offload its Sony City Osaki building in Tokyo.

The latest financial report shows a massive turnaround from the 457bn yen loss that Sony made a year ago.

It has been a struggle for the Japanese firm, which was once the prestige brand of the high street; in 2000 it was valued at 75bn, but is now valued at only 7bn. It has seen a major downturn in demand for its products, most notably its TVs, which currently have a smaller share of the market than rivals Samsung and LG.

The company was also badly affected by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011, and floods in Thailand that same year - both of which caused major damage to its factories and disruption to supply chains. Commoditisation in China could also be to blame for some of Sony's woes.

"[Commoditisation in China] is just a tidal wave that you can't hold back. There is almost nothing Sony could have done to position themselves better in today's consumer market," Jordan Selburn, analyst at research firm HIS iSuppli, told Computing.

Sony will hope that its PlayStation 4 video games console, which was announced earlier this year, will enable the firm to continue to turn a profit in the coming years.

Source: http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2267003/sony-makes-gbp280m-profit-after-four-years-of-losses#comment_form
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Sony Makes 280m Profit After Four Years of Losses