Sony Quarterly Profit Slides on EV Losses, Game Weakness

By Kosaku Narioka

Sony Group reported sharply lower fourth-quarter net profit due to losses from its electric-vehicle joint venture with Honda Motor and weakness in its game and other businesses.

The Japanese entertainment and electronics company said Friday that net profit dropped 63% from a year earlier to 83.12 billion yen, equivalent to $529.6 million, for the three months ended March.

That missed the Y202.24 billion estimate in a poll of analysts by data provider S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Sony said it booked a Y44.9 billion loss in equity-method investment related to the joint venture with Honda, which discontinued the sale of its EV models.

Operating profit for its game, movie and image-sensor businesses fell. Its entertainment technology business posted a narrower operating loss.

Fourth-quarter revenue grew 8.3% to Y3.036 trillion.

For the fiscal year that began in April, the company projected revenue to decline 1.4% to Y12.300 trillion and net profit to climb 12.5% to Y1.160 trillion.

Weak earnings in some of Sony's entertainment segments come as the group has spent billions of dollars on acquisitions in recent years to beef up its entertainment content, while giving up control of businesses in other areas.

In March, Sony roughly doubled its stake in the company that owns the Snoopy, Charlie Brown and other Peanuts characters, to 80% for about $460 million.

The company also spun off its financial business in October to focus on its entertainment businesses.

The stock has fallen 22% year to date through Thursday, weighed by concerns about higher costs of memory chips used in game consoles and a possible deterioration in consumer sentiment amid the Middle East conflict.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-08-26 0002ET