Tokyo: Sony booked a $1.1bn annual loss, but the struggling electronics giant said it expects to swing back to profitability in the current fiscal year as it emerges from a painful corporate makeover.
The latest loss for Sony comes as the once world-leading firm presses on with a sweeping restructuring that has included layoffs and selling off assets, including its Manhattan headquarters, aimed at rescuing a battered balance sheet.
Boss Kazuo Hirai, a company veteran tapped to turn the firm around, has said he would keep splitting the business into self-operating units as part of the bid to stay in the black. Sony said its net loss for the year to March was 126bn yen ($1.1bn), a slight improvement on the 128.4bn yen loss a year ago, as it absorbs big restructuring costs.
It was also much lower than a 170bn yen previous forecast by the company, which was itself a reduction from an earlier 230bn yen estimated shortfall.
For the current fiscal year to March 2016, Sony expects a net profit of 140bn yen and an operating profit of 320bn yen, although it said sales would be down 3.8 percent. “The major parts of the restructuring have ended,” chief financial officer Kenichiro Yoshida told reporters.
“Now is the time that we must regain market confidence after revising down our earnings several times in the past.” AFP
