Sony posts loss but says profit in sight

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Sony posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, helped by an improvement in its struggling flat TV business, & said it was aiming to beat its official forecast & at least break even for the full yr. Sony fell behind Apple iPod in portable music, Nintendo in videogames, and is struggling to compete with Samsung Electronics in LCD TVs. But Sony, which vies with Panasonic for the position of the world's largest consumer electronics maker, said that losses on flat TVs narrowed in the latest quarter, bringing the business close to the break even level. The maker of Bravia flat TVs & Vaio PCs kept its operating loss forecast of 110B yen ($1.2B) for the year to March 31, 2010. That is about half the 227.8B yen loss it racked up a year ago, & compares to the consensus of 117.7B yen loss according to a Reuters poll. But Sony said it was aiming to beat that. "We are keeping our official forecast but internally we are aiming to at least break even," CFO Nobuyuki Oneda said. With 3 quarters of its revenues earned overseas, Sony is vulnerable to the yen's appreciation, which makes Japanese exports less price competitive overseas at a time So. Korean rivals are benefiting from a softer won. Sony's operating loss came in at 25.7B yen in April-June, down from a 73.44B yen profit in 08, & smaller than average 103.1B yen loss forecast by 6 analysts. It reported a net loss of 37.1B yen, a reversal from a 34.98B yen profit a year ago. In contrast, South Korea's LG Electronics posted a record quarterly profit on strong TV & mobile phone sales, as Samsung beat market expectations with a 5% rise in quarterly net profit. Sony's been restructuring its sprawling operations. It has announced plans to close 8 mfg sites, cut 16,000 jobs & halve 2,500 suppliers. "Sony is making changes to adapt to the environment but it still seems to be having trouble keeping up and perhaps should have been a bit more aggressive cost-cutting," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management. Ahead of the results, shares rose 6.8% at 2,505 yen, outperforming a 1.9% rise in the Tokyo market's electrical machinery index. The stock gained 17% since April thru July, while the subindex put on 29%. U.S.-listed shares of Sony were up sharply, rising 9.6% to $27.20.