Sony’s profit tumbles 72%, hurt by gains in Japan’s yen
Sony Corp.’s fiscal second-quarter profit plunged 72% as a surging yen wiped out the benefits of strong flat-panel TV and PlayStation 3 sales, as well as box-office revenue from the movie “Hancock.”
Sony said Wednesday that it posted a net profit of 20.8 billion yen ($214 million) for the July-September period, down from 73.7 billion yen ($696 million) a year earlier. Sales slipped 0.5% to 2.072 trillion yen ($21.4 billion).
Sony said its core electronics sector enjoyed particularly healthy demand for flat-panel TVs, Vaio personal computers and single-lens reflex cameras.
Sony also reduced quarterly losses in the video game business, with sales in the sector improving 10%. Sony sold 2.43 million PlayStation 3 consoles during the quarter, up 85% from the same period a year earlier.
Sony shares fell 86 cents to $21.13.
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