Sony Corp projects lower full year loss at $1.4 bn
05 Feb 2015
Sony Corp cut its losses forecast and gave a figure for damages from the Sony Pictures hack, but said it would not suffer significant harm from the cyberattack in the long run, The Independent reported.
The entertainment and electronics giant delayed the announcement of its earnings for the October-December quarter as the hack hurt its ability to compile its complete results in time.
The hack, which was revealed in December when computers of the Hollywood studio were crippled and sensitive documents posted online, hit Sony to the tune of around $15 million, it said.
"We don't expect leaks of unreleased films online or damage to our IT systems will cause a significant loss," Kazuhiko Takeda, vice president of Sony's corporate planning department, told reporters. "We had insurance against cyberattacks and will be able to recover a significant portion of the costs."
In new earnings forecasts for the fiscal year ending March, the company said it was benefiting from strong sales of the PlayStation 4, other devices and network services.
Sony has projected a loss of ¥170 billion for the fiscal year, an improvement from a forecast made in October of a ¥230-billion loss. The company posted a ¥40-billion loss last fiscal year, which was the latest in a succession of losses as its TV business competitors offering cheaper TVs made inroads into its share of the market.
Meanwhile, Associated Press reported that the entertainment and electronics giant delayed the announcement of its earnings for the October-December quarter, citing internal difficulties due to the hack at Sony Pictures Entertainment.
In new earnings forecasts for the fiscal year ending in March the company said it was benefiting from strong sales of gaming consoles, other devices and network services.
According to Sony, stronger than expected sales of the PlayStation 4, higher network services revenue, robust sales of devices and a slight uptick in its financial services business would help offset a decline in its mobile business.
