Sony posts 20% gain in third-quarter operating profit, raises full-year earnings outlook
TOKYO - Japanese electronics and media giant Sony Corp on Wednesday posted a better-than-expected 20% rise in third-quarter profit and hiked its full-year outlook on strong demand for video games, movies and other entertainment content.
Operating profit for the October-December quarter jumped to 359.2 billion yen ($3.42 billion), from 300 billion yen in the same period a year ago. Six analysts on average had expected a profit of just 179 billion yen, according to Refinitiv data.
Sony also raised its forecast for operating profit in the 12 months through March 2021 to 940 billion yen from the 700 billion yen it previously expected. That prediction is well above an average 812.9 billion yen profit based on forecasts from 18 analysts, Refinitiv data shows.
($1 = 105.0100 yen)
(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
