Sony beats forecast despite PS3 losses

Wednesday, 31st January 2007 at 11:30 am

Sony’s game division has recorded a quarterly loss of Y54.2 billion (EUR 343 million) for the period ending December 31st, but the company has still managed to raise its projected net profit thanks to better-than-expected results elsewhere in the company.

The firm’s total net profit for the period was Y159.9 billion (EUR 1.01 billion), which was five per cent down on the year before, but nowhere near as bad as the 50 per cent drop predicted by Bloomberg and other analysts.

Operating profit was up 100 per cent to Y177.4 billion (EUR 1.12 billion), largely thanks to sales for Bravia televisions and Cybershot digital cameras.

The losses in Sony’s games division were in stark contrast to the previous year, when it reported a profit of Y67.8 billion (EUR 431 million). Sony said that 1.84 million PS3 units were sold in the quarter in 2006.

PS2 suffered a 23 per cent drop in sales, but Sony still managed to ship 4.11 million units in the period, bringing the aging console’s worldwide install base to 115.36 million.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/25520/Sony-beats-expectations-despite-PS3-losses