FollowJapan’s Sony said it that expects its net annual loss to be lower than its previous estimate because of cost cuts and higher sales of its PlayStation video game consoles and image sensors that helped it record profits that are higher than forecasts during the third quarter.
After reporting five out of six years of net losses, the consumer electronics and entertainment group is now in the midst of restructuring as it sees its smartphone, TV and personal computers divisions struggle.
As for the preliminary results of the company, Sony said that its operating profit doubled to $1.52 billion or 178.3 billion yen for the third quarter while its sales went up by 6% which is equivalent to 2.56 trillion yen. This estimated amount is well ahead of the analysts’ forecasts for the operating profit of 96.6 billion yen and sales of 2.38 trillion yen. The company also provided its forecasts for the full-year net loss of 170 billion yen which is lower than that of the previous estimate that it made with a net loss of 230 billion.
The numbers provided are not yet final as Sony still would need to compile accurate figures for its Hollywood studio. This by the way follows a widespread hacking of the computer systems of Sony which the company said that the incident didn’t have a material effect on its finances.
As for the smartphones market, Sony has struggled to gain market share as it lags behind giants Apple and Samsung. The company’s forecast for its smartphones division is that it would have an average operating loss of 215 billion yen which is higher than its expected operating loss in October of 204 billion.
With the company trying to speed up a turnaround, it stated that it would cut more than 2,000 jobs in its mobiles division at the end of the fiscal year until March of 2016 after 1,000 cuts were announced.
