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Emerging from years of restructuring, the consumer electronics
giant is refocusing its business to concentrate on videogames,
entertainment and camera sensors and the sale of its battery
business was part of that effort.
But while the sale to Murata Manufacturing Co <6981.T> had been
flagged in July, its impact on earnings appeared to be greater
than expected.
Sony now expects to post 270 billion yen ($2.6 billion) in
operating profit for the year ending in March, down 30 billion
yen from its previous forecast made in July and an 8 percent
decline from the previous year.
It also falls short of a Thomson Reuters Starmine SmartEstimate
of 308.65 billion yen derived from 27 brokerage estimates.
Analysts have been hopeful that brisk sales of PlayStation 4
gaming consoles and software titles would boost profits and that
this would only improve with upgraded versions of the console
during the year-end holiday shopping season.
This month Sony also unveiled its PlayStation VR headset and it
said that production of image sensors would return to full
capacity in the second half due to a pickup in smartphone
demand.
Sony said on Monday it has agreed to sell its battery business
for about 17.5 billion yen and expects to book an impairment
charge of 33 billion yen related to the sale.
It will announce its first-half results and further details of
its full-year outlook on Tuesday.
($1 = 104.7500 yen)
(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Additional reporting by Makiko
Yamazaki; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
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