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Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate, Sony Group saw revenues rise in its music, games and pictures units in the second quarter of its current financial year. But group profits were halved from JPY459 billion to JPY283 billion ($2.50 billion at current exchange rates).
The company reported its figures for the three months from July to September on Thursday afternoon local time. Group sales increased by 13% to JPY2.37 trillion. Income before taxes dropped 54% and earnings per share fell to JPY170.26, compared with JPY367.08 in the equivalent quarter last year.
Sony’s ‘pictures division,’ which straddles feature film, television production and channel operations, saw revenues increase by 35% from $1.76 billion in the second quarter of last year, to $2.37 billion in the three months to Sept. 2021. Operating profits fell 7% from $309 million to $288 million.
Games and network services enjoyed a sales gain of 29% with the most recent quarter delivering JPY654 billion, compared with JPY507 billion. The segment’s operating income went the opposite direction, falling 21% to JPY82.7 billion, compared with JPY105 billion.
Music followed the same pattern. Quarterly revenues increased by 18% from JPY231 billion to JPY272 billion. But the segment’s operating income fell by 7% from JPY54.3 billion to JPY506 billion.
Despite the lower profitability of all three entertainment division in the most recent quarter, Sony increased its full year guidance for the full year in both music and pictures units. It now forecasts net year-on-year profit improvements in pictures and music.
Sony left its forecast for games unchanged. It is indicating a 5% year-on-year profits decline, but that still leaves the games unit as the group’s most profitable division.
In recent months, Sony has completed its acquisition of specialty anime streamer Crunchyroll and announced the proposed purchase of Firesprite. It also recently announced plans to sell GSN Games to Scopely for $1 billion, which it said would generate a gain that the group would likely show as operating profit.
In September, Sony said that it would merge its Indian TV business with Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Parts of the deal, notably the choices of the merged group’s senior management, are being contested in court by minority investors.
Prior to the results on the group’s Tokyo-traded shares had come off their recent highs to finish 1% lower at JPY12,970 on Thursday. In New York, the group’s ADR shares had fallen 3.3% on Wednesday to $113.23.
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