Sony raises forecast on PlayStation gaming growth but profit drops 31% in first quarter

Sony on Wednesday reported a 31% fall in profit in the first fiscal quarter as its life insurance unit dragged on its bottom line — but solid performance in the company’s games business drove a 33% bump in revenues.

Here’s how Sony did in the June quarter versus Refinitiv consensus estimates:

• Revenue: 3 trillion Japanese yen ($20.7 billion) versus 2.46 trillion yen expected. That represents a 33% year-on-year rise.
• Operating profit: 253 billion Japanese yen versus 251.24 billion yen expected. That marks a 31% year-on-year fall.

Sony is anticipating a bumper year for its PlayStation gaming business. The company previously said it expects to sell a record 25 million PlayStation 5 units in the current financial year, which ends on March 2024 — compared with 19.1 million units in the previous year.

Sony sold 3.3 million units of the PlayStation 5 in its April-June quarter, up 38% year-over-year. The numbers are softer compared with the December quarter, when consumer electronics tend to do well thanks to the holiday shopping period.

Sony flagged a deterioration in profitability with its latest console, which it attributed to “changes in promotions by geographic region and the sales channel mix.”

This is a breaking news story and it is being updated.