The company announced this Friday (8) operating profit up 73% in the second fiscal quarter, with strong sales that helped offset weakness in the group’s technology and entertainment division.
Sony maintained a profit forecast of 1.31 trillion yen ($8.51 billion) for the fiscal year through March, largely in line with the 1.34 trillion yen average estimate compiled by Lseg along with 24 analysts.
Sony’s July-September operating profit rose to 455.1 billion yen, compared with 263 billion a year earlier, helped by solid sales of image sensors.
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In addition to an increase in third-party software sales, Sony President Hiroki Totoki highlighted improved profitability in the video game division.
“We continue to see a smooth shift (among consumers) to the PS5 over the PS4, which is also leading to an increase in game sales,” said Totoki.
Sony generates more than a third of its revenue from its video games segment, where profit nearly tripled to 138.8 billion yen during the quarter. Sony released an updated version of its flagship console, capable of running improved graphics, on November 7th.
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The company raised its gaming sector’s annual profit outlook to 355 billion yen from 320 billion previously, leading to a slight upward revision of the group’s annual revenue forecast to 12.71 trillion yen.
Although PlayStation 5 sales fell 22% compared to the second quarter of 2023, to 3.8 million units, the company maintained a sales forecast of 18 million consoles for this fiscal year.
The industry is struggling with the rising cost of creating games and Sony said last month it was closing two PlayStation developers, including Firework Studios, which released the game “Concord” in August.
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Sony’s film business generated profit of 185 billion yen in the quarter, down from 294 billion a year ago, due to delayed film releases following the 2023 Hollywood strikes.
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