Sony racks up record profit on robust performance for music, movies and
games
[May 14, 2025] By
YURI KAGEYAMA
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology and entertainment company Sony logged
an 18% rise in profit for the fiscal year through March on healthy
results at its music and video-game operations.
Its chief executive, Hiroki Totoki, outlined the company's strategy for
growth Wednesday, stressing that collaboration among Sony Corp.'s
various segments, like animation and music, were crucial to deliver the
“kando,” or emotional engagement, that lies at the core of the company's
vision and strength.
“Building on our momentum and results to date and working with a
laser-like focus to realize our long-term Creative Entertainment Vision
will be at the core of our corporate strategies moving forward,” he told
reporters.
Sony's movies division has strong offerings in the pipeline, including
Spider-Man films and biopics about The Beatles, while animation remains
a driver of growth centered around the popular anime streaming service
Crunchyroll, Totoki said.
Tokyo-based Sony reported a record annual profit of 1.14 trillion yen
($7.8 billion), up from 970.6 billion yen in the previous fiscal year.
Annual sales were virtually unchanged, inching down to 12.957 trillion
yen ($88 billion) from 13.020 trillion yen.
One area that lagged among Sony’s sprawling businesses was the financial
segment, where revenue stalled. But its film division and its imaging
and sensor solutions segment did well.
Sony officials said they were studying how to respond to President
Donald Trump's tariffs, although that was a challenge because of
uncertainties and constant changes. But they said the negative impact
from U.S. trade policy will be kept to 10% of Sony's operating profit in
the coming fiscal year by adjusting the allocation of shipments, among
other measures.
Totoki stressed that Sony plans to leverage its content creating
technology, like virtual reality and image sensors, to feed into its
entertainment products, including working on immersive experiences. Sony
also has powerful collaborative relations with various entertainment
companies like Kadokawa, which includes publishing as well as films and
animation, and Bandai Namco, a video game maker, he added.
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A logo of Sony is seen at the headquarters of Sony Corp. on May 10,
2022, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
 Sony will emphasize the “diversity”
of its workers, helping bring out people's creative potential,
Totoki said.
Among the Sony movies that fared well at the box office for the
fiscal year through March were “Venom: The Last Dance,” featuring
the Marvel Comics superhero, and “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” an action
comedy, where Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return in their popular
cop roles in the fourth installment in the series.
Sony, which makes the PlayStation console and game software played
on that machine, also posted healthy results in the gaming business.
Its music operations, which also held up, include recordings,
streaming services and music for games. The top-selling recorded
music projects for the latest fiscal year globally was SZA’s “SOS
Deluxe: LANA,” followed by Beyonce, Future & Metro Boomin and Travis
Scott.
The top seller in its Japan music business was Kenshi Yonezu’s “Lost
Corner” album, followed by offerings from Stray Kids and Six Tones.
For the January-March quarter, Sony posted a 197.7 billion yen ($1.3
billion) profit, up 5% from 189 billion yen the same quarter in the
previous fiscal year. Sales were 2.6 trillion yen ($17.7 billion),
down 24% from 3.48 trillion yen.
Sony is forecasting a nearly 13% drop in profit for the fiscal year
through March 2026, to 930 billion yen ($6.3 billion), on 11.7
trillion yen ($80 billion) sales, down 2.9% on-year.
Sony Group Corp. stocks, which fell in Tokyo morning trading,
rebounded to finish 3.7% higher after its financial results were
announced.
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