Sony disappoints Nikkei Index, posts $3.2 billion loss

Everyone seems to need a bail out these days, regardless of whether you’re a corporation who’s ‘too big to fail’ or a country, and Sony decided to jump aboard the loss bandwagon by announcing an annual loss of $3.2 billion – this is a 180-degree turnaround from their previous projection of a return to profit, as Sony has had more than a single spanner thrown into their work no thanks to the most recent tsunami and earthquake disaster in Japan, as well as the highly publicized hacker attack on its PlayStation Network gaming service.

Sony had announced the loss ahead of its official earnings announcement, and it is rather shocking considering they had earlier projected a 70 billion yen ($860 million) profit. Of course, Sony is not alone in the sudden turnaround, as their production lines were clearly set back due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that proved to be a factory wipeout. 

According to Masaru Kato, Sony’s chief financial officer, “In the first quarter, we saw quite a major impact on our manufacturing activities. After the quake, negative factors have grown bigger and offset earlier improvement in the previously loss-making games division, dashing hopes for a profit.” Here’s to a better fiscal year, Sony!

Edwin Kee
Categories: General
Tags: Sony