Report: Sony to Report Operating Loss This Year

Sony is set to report an operating loss for the current fiscal year, only the second since it listed on the Tokyo stock market in 1958, according to a report in the Tuesday morning edition of The Nikkei business daily.

Hit by recession in many of its biggest markets, a strong yen that makes its products more expensive overseas and tough price competition in major product sectors, the company is set to report an operating loss of around ¥100 billion (US$1.1 billion) based on current data, according to the report. The loss could be as much as double that if inventories rise in the January to March quarter, the newspaper said.

Sony's financial year runs from April to March and it's most recent financial forecast, reaffirmed in late October, was for an operating profit of ¥200 billion on revenue of ¥9 trillion. Operating income more closely tracks performance of the core business than the more general net income.

In its previous financial year Sony reported an operating profit of ¥374 billion on revenue of ¥8.9 trillion. Net profit stood at ¥369 billion for the period.