Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
Sony Group Corp reported on Tuesday a fall in annual profit, even as revenue rose on the strength of its Music, Pictures, and Electronics & Solutions divisions.
The Tokyo-based media and consumer electronics conglomerate reported net income of JP¥888.41 billion, around $6.81 billion, in the financial year that ended March 31. This represented a 15% drop against the previous year's figure of JP¥1.043 trillion.
Earnings per share declined at the same rate to JP¥711.84 from JP¥836.75.
Sony recorded a JP¥84.8 billion financial expense in the recent year, compared to financial income of JP¥42.7 billion the previous year. This was primarily due to the recording of unrealized losses on its shares in music streaming app Spotify Technology SA.
Sales, however, climbed 14% to JP¥8.397 trillion from JP¥7.334 trillion. Sony explained this was mainly due to significant increases in sales in the Pictures, Electronics & Solutions, and Music segments.
Music sales increased 19% against the previous year, and Electronics & Solutions recorded 13% growth.
Pictures saw the steepest growth, revenue rising 65%.
The division includes film studios and so was badly hurt by the closure of cinemas during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, motion picture sales were greatly benefited by high theatrical revenue as a result of 'Spider-Man: No Way Home', released in December.
Sony also benefited from higher licensing revenue from digital streaming services for new film titles. Its television productions also aided the Pictures segment, with the licensing of TV show 'Seinfeld' boosting revenue.
Moreover, its media network grew on the impact of anime streaming service Crunchyroll. Sony agreed to buy the streaming firm back in December 2020.
For financial 2023, Sony expects sales to total JP¥11.40 trillion and net income to increase to JP¥1.13 trillion. Sony said this increase is expected due to anticipated sales increases in the Game & Network Services and Imaging & Sensing Solutions segments.
Shares in Sony closed down 3.1% at JP¥10,500.00 on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.