Sony Posts Record Net Profit in April-June

August 1, 2018

Tokyo- Sony Corp.'s group net profit in April-June jumped 2.8-fold from a year before to 226.4 billion yen, the highest level for the period, while growth in its operating profit slowed.

Other major Japanese electronics makers also posted lower growth in their operating profits, according to their earnings data released by Tuesday.

The surge in Sony's net profit in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 reflected the strong performance of its game business and gains of over 100 billion yen from the stock listing of an affiliated major online music distributor.

Sony revised up its net profit estimate for the full year through March 2019 to 500 billion yen from 480 billion yen.

Meanwhile, the company's group operating profit came to 195 billion yen, up 23.7 pct, after the 2.8-fold rise a year before. The slower growth reflected weak sales of smartphones.

Hitachi Ltd.'s April-June operating profit stood at 148.1 billion yen, up 12.4 pct. The growth was smaller than the year-before increase of 44.1 pct, due chiefly to a surge in materials costs.

While its construction machinery operations continued to fare well, Hitachi is concerned about the Chinese government's plan to curb infrastructure investment.

Although demand is unlikely to plunge suddenly, future developments should be closely watched, Hitachi Senior Vice President Mitsuaki Nishiyama said. Jiji Press