Strong profits at Sony

Japanese electronics giant Sony has posted operating profits of $1.6bn for its third fiscal quarter – its first profit in five quarters. It’s a big improvement on the $197m loss seen in the same period the year before.

There were also strong results at the Networked Products and Services Division (which houses Sony’s PlayStation operations), with the period brining an operating profit of $213m – up $277m year-on-year.

PlayStation-specific numbers remained static, however, with the strengthening of the PS3 business offset by losses in both the PS2 and PSP operations.

Further good news came from Sony’s Blu-ray operations, with increased sales paving the way for a 22 per cent increase in profits at the B2B & Disc Manufacturing Division, totalling $110m.

Sony has now halved its forecasted full-year loss from $415m to $207m.