Sony nearly triples annual profit forecast

Tokyo: Sony on Friday nearly tripled its annual net profit forecast, citing lower-than-expected costs in its chip business and other divisions, including the PlayStation games business. The Tokyo-based firm is now expecting net profit of 73 billion yen ($668 million) for the fiscal year to March, well up from its last forecast of 26 billion yen. The latest projection brings Sony closer to a 80 billion yen profit forecast issued in May last year. It then cut it several times, including the last in February when it cited a nearly $1 billion writedown at its movie unit, restructuring costs and foreign exchange fluctuations. Sony Pictures’ woes included box-office disappointments such as a reboot of the Eighties classic “Ghostbusters” with an all-female cast and “Inferno”, a sequel to the “Da Vinci Code”. — AFP