Sony trims full-year loss forecast to $1.4 billion

Sony trimmed its forecast of losses on Wednesday and gave a figure for damages from the Sony Pictures hack. The entertainment and electronics giant delayed the announcement of its earnings for the October-December quarter because the cyberattack affected its ability to compile its complete results in time. The hack, which became public in December when the Hollywood studio’s computers were crippled and sensitive documents were posted online, cost Sony about $15 million, it said. Sony issued new earnings forecasts for the fiscal year ending in March and said it was benefiting from strong sales of the PlayStation 4, other devices and network services. The company is forecasting a loss of 170 billion yen ($1.4 billion) for the fiscal year, an improvement from its earlier forecast of a 230 billion yen loss. The company reported a 40 billion yen loss last fiscal year. Sony has brought in new top executives and is in the midst of a major restructuring that is expected to help put the company on a stronger footing after years of losses. It still is relatively strong in video games and its movie and music businesses have benefited from a weakening in the Japanese yen, which improves profit earned in dollars when it is brought back to Japan. The company has sold its Vaio computer business and is splitting off its TV division to run as a wholly-owned subsidiary. In its update, Sony said stronger than expected sales of the PlayStation 4, higher network services revenue, robust sales of devices and a slight improvement in its financial services business will help counter a decline in its mobile business. It expects to release its October-December quarterly result by the end of March. Associated Press