Shares in Sony Corporation have soared to their highest point in over a decade, following strong PlayStation sales, and a lift in current fiscal year outlook. Profits from Sony’s stake in the newly listed Spotify also boost earnings.
For the three months to June 30th, Sony Corp post an operating profit of 195 billion yen (US$1.74 billion), significantly trumping projections for 145.4 billion yen (US$1.3 billion).
Results sent shares soaring 5.4% in early trading, edging its highest close since 2008.
As previously reported by ChannelNews, Sony Australia recently post a bumper $8.7 million dollar profit [before tax], up from $5.52 million last year.
PlayStation has continued to remain Sony’s ‘darling child’, with division revenue climbing a whopping 36% during the quarter.
Sony Corp gaming revenue more than tripled (to 83.5 billion yen), following robust sales of the new ‘God of War and Detroit: Become Human’.
The news comes despite Sony’s refusal to offer cross-platform play for the widely popular ‘Fortnite’.
Sony claims digital game sales have also continued to spike, offering higher profit margins than retailers.
Following bumper results, Sony has lift gaming full-year revenue forecasts by 15%, upping operating profit by 32%.
Full year PlayStation 4 sales have also lifted to around 16 million – 17 million.
Back in April, Sony sold a fifth of its stake in streaming giant, Spotify, after the company when public. The company reportedly generated 53.9 billion yen from the sale.
According to Bloomberg, Sony’s remaining Spotify shares are worth around 95.3 billion yen, with no word given concerning future sell-offs.
Driven by music streaming growth, Sony royalties jumped 28% on-year to 32.1 billion yen.
Stellar results were hampered by Sony’s chip division, with operating profit plummeting 47% to 29.1 billion yen.
The company attributes constricting smartphone growth for the decline, with Sony among the largest camera chip suppliers to smartphone vendors (e.g. Apple).
Sony Corp has lift its income forecast to 500 billion yen (US$4.5 billion), following projected sales of 8.6 trillion yen through to next March. It’s a notable increase versus previous forecasts of 480 billion yen and 8.3 trillion yen respectively.
