Sony's videogame unit to shrink losses
Corporation's overall profits expected to increase fivefold, but still miss targets
Sony Corporation's videogames unit is expected to see its losses shrink by around JPY 100 billion (USD 956 million / EUR 618 million) for the year ending March 31, 2008, following an operating loss - thanks to PlayStation 3 start-up costs incurred - the previous year of JPY 232 billion (USD / EUR 1.43 billion).
That is according to the Japanese Nikkei daily, as reported by Reuters, and is set against a backdrop of the Corporation as a whole expected to increase its operating profit by almost five times - but still miss profit targets.
The Nikkei predicts profit to hit JPY 380 billion (USD 3.63 billion / EUR 2.35 billion), although the January forecast was JPY 410 billion (USD 3.91 billion / EUR 2.53 billion) while a Reuters consensus predicted JPY 393.6 billion (USD 3.76 billion / EUR 2.43 billion).
Sales of digital cameras are expected to have been particularly strong for the corporation as a whole, and the full year earnings will be released on May 14.
A Sony spokesperson stated that the Nikkei predictions were based on the paper's own speculation, and that the company would not be commenting further.