Sony back in the black with $847 million Q2 profit

Sony Corporation on Friday reported a 68.65 billion yen ($847 million) operating profit for the July-September quarter on improved PC and game businesses, and helped in part by cost cuts.

Sony, which swung back to a second-quarter profit with a consolidated operating income of 68.7 billion yen despite unfavorable foreign exchange rates, also raised its outlook despite tough competition and a strong yen.

Sony also reported significant improvement over the loss recorded in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

The networked products and services segment, including the game business and PCs, contributed significantly to the improved consolidated operating results, the company said in a release.

Sony said the structural transformation initiatives have resulted in improvement in the cost of sales ratio and the selling, general and administrative expenses ratio.

Sony also revised its forecast for operating income for the fiscal year upward, reflecting favorable second quarter performance, despite the expectation of a difficult business environment for the remainder of the fiscal year.