Sony Group Corp. on Wednesday lifted its net profit forecast for the year ending March to 920 billion yen ($6.1 billion) from an earlier estimate of 880 billion yen thanks to its robust finance business and a weak yen, while announcing that a planned spinoff and the listing of its financial unit is scheduled for 2025.

The sales projection for fiscal 2023, however, was lowered to 12.3 trillion yen from its November forecast of 12.4 trillion yen, overshadowed by lackluster performance in the gaming sector.

The Japanese conglomerate cut its annual sales target for its mainstay PlayStation 5 games console to 21 million units from 25 million, citing slower-than-expected sales around the Christmas holiday season, even as a new model hit the shelves in November.

The downgrade brought its gaming business's annual sales forecast down to 4.15 trillion yen from 4.36 trillion yen, the company said, adding that console sales will continue to slow in the next fiscal year onward.

As part of efforts to focus more on its entertainment and chip businesses, Sony Group announced the same day that it has decided to begin preparations for the partial spinoff and listing of Sony Financial Group Inc. in October 2025. It had said in May last year that it was considering the move.

"By listing, the financial unit will be able to procure funds and seek growth on its own," Sony Group President Hiroki Totoki said at an online press conference. "We are aiming to achieve a win-win outcome" for both Sony Group and the unit.

The parent company said it plans to keep a less than 20 percent stake in the financial unit, which provides banking, life insurance and property insurance services under the Sony brand.

In the nine months ended December, Sony Group's net profit fell 9.6 percent from a year earlier to 781.57 billion yen on sales of 9.54 trillion yen, up 20.2 percent.

For fiscal 2023, the company said it expects its financial services revenue to reach 1.3 trillion yen, compared with the earlier estimate of 1.21 trillion yen, mainly due to net gains on investment at Sony Life Insurance Co.

==Kyodo

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