Japan's Sony Corp announced a 57 percent decrease in operating income for the fourth quarter late Wednesday, and declined to provide an outlook for the current year due to uncertainties related to coronavirus outbreak.
For the January-March period, the electronics and entertainment giant reported an operating profit of 35.45 billion yen ($331 million) versus 82.73 billion yen a year earlier, as the coronavirus crisis hit demand for its mobile image sensors, cameras and flat screens. The result compared with the nine analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv at an average of 73.77 billion yen.
Sony was still struggling to market its PlayStation 4 hardware as well as gaming software, now in its sixth year. Yet its image sensors, which has become a critical growth engine, has maintained high sales and profits.
In February, Sony had increased its estimate for the annual operating profit of the year by 5 percent to 880 billion yen, led by increased sales in its image sensor unit, used primarily for smartphones.
But the company had alerted investors that the upward revision could be wiped out by disruption from the coronavirus pandemic, which has slashed the business' operating sales by 68.2 billion yen.
Sales from blockbuster flicks managed to report a rise thanks to Spider-Man: Far From Home and other movies but the forecast is still rather cloudy. Selloffs on financial markets likewise resulted in declines on the company's securities holdings, management disclosed.
The forecast hit hard on sales of Sony's electronics products and theatre movies, while heavily impacting output lines, Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo, stated.
In several factories, Sony has suspended activity as governments worldwide have placed prolonged bans on travel and business operations to contain the disease.
But from the outbreak, the gaming business has seen a positive impact of 2.8 billion yen, as customers staying home search for entertainment. Despite the aging PlayStation 4, the company announced a decrease of 28 percent to 46.2 billion yen in fourth-quarter profit.
According to chief executive officer Kenichiro Yoshida, in an interview with Nikkei Asian Review last month, "it's too early to say what kind of transformation (there'll be) but we'll have to adapt to the new world."
Last week, rival Nintendo reported an increase in annual profits, sparked by demand for its popular Switch gaming device and titles, including the successful "Animal Crossing". The company's net profits were up 33.4 percent to 258.6 billion yen in fiscal year to March on 1.3 trillion yen revenue.
