Sony hit with yet another annual loss, warns of more to come

Sony’s move to abandon PCs has contributed to a massive net loss of ¥128.4 billion ($1.25 billion) for the year to March 31, and it has forecast a loss of ¥50 billion for the coming 12 months. A year earlier, Sony made a profit of around ¥41 billion, its first in many years. Its latest plunge into the red is slightly less deep than it forecast two weeks ago. The company reported revenue of ¥7.77 trillion for the period, up 14 percent on a year earlier.

Sony Corp said it would step up a broad restructuring this year to tackle bloated costs and exit some unprofitable businesses, hoping to put behind it years of persistent losses. The Japanese consumer electronics giant, which warned on Wednesday of a second consecutive net loss for this financial year, is struggling to recover after being undercut by nimbler Asian rivals in its key markets. Domestic peer Panasonic Corp, by contrast, has turned around its business by embracing industrial products and pursuing more corporate clients rather than consumers. Sony said it would spend 135 billion yen ($1.32 billion) on restructuring in the year to March 31, adding to the 177.4 billion yen it spent in the previous year, as it sells off its loss-making Vaio PC and disc storage businesses.