Some good news
Sony Back In Profit After Record Loss
Sony has reported an annual profit for the first time in five years.
Read it carefully and realize - SONY IS NOT MAKING MONEY IN ELECTRONICS - PS division performance is pathetic...
Is SONY going by Philips way?
HW
Here is the news
The electronics and entertainment company made a net profit of 43bn yen (280m) in the year to the end of March 2013, compared to losses of 457bn yen (2.9bn) in the previous twelve months.
Sony said that a weakened yen, asset sales, and healthy results by its movie department had helped reverse its fortunes.
Once dominant in consumer electronics, increased competition and narrower margins have seen Sony struggle of late - most notably its TV business, which has been making losses for close to a decade.
The movie unit reported a 40% increase in its operating profit, earning $509m (326.7m) thanks in part to big box office draws like The Amazing Spider-Man and Skyfall.
The PS4 was announced in February
Sony Music also showed a slight increase, up 0.9% to $396m (254m).
But the gaming side of Sony suffered yet another terrible year, a 94% drop in its operating profits to just $18m (11.5m). The company blamed falling hardware sales.
It is difficult to gauge exactly how much of an effect the weakened yen has had but with the Japanese currency dropping 20% against the dollar since November 2012, Sony's products are cheaper and thus more attractive to foreign buyers. It also inflates the value of Sony's foreign income.
However, nearly $2.5bn (1.6bn) was raised through the sale of key assets including its American HQ in New York, shares, and the Sony City Osaki building in Tokyo.
Analysts suggest this means the profit reported gives a misleading account of the state of the business.
Sony expects its recovery to continue, projecting a 50bn yen (325m) profit for the year ending March 2014, a 16% increase.
