Sony Group Corp. on Thursday raised its net profit outlook for the current business year ending next March to 880 billion yen ($5.8 billion) from its earlier estimate of 860 billion yen, helped by its gaming, music and image sensor businesses.
Sony also lifted its sales outlook to 12.40 trillion yen from 12.20 trillion yen projected earlier. The new estimate represents a 13.0 percent increase from sales in the previous business year. As previously forecast, Sony expects its operating profit to fall 10.2 percent to 1.17 trillion yen.
For the April-September period, net profit fell 23.1 percent to 417.65 billion yen.
Sony expects stronger-than-expected sales in its game software, online game and music streaming services. The upward revisions come despite the negative impact of weaker demand for car-use sensors and recent strikes in Hollywood hitting the entertainment industry.
Sony sold 8.2 million PlayStation 5 game consoles in the six months to September, with its annual target set at 25 million units.
A weaker yen has benefited Sony and is expected to help its bottom line throughout the business year. It revised sharply upward its assumed rates for the dollar and euro against the yen.
In the six-month to Sept. 30, Sony's operating profit dropped 29.7 percent to 516.05 billion yen while sales increased 19.3 percent to 5.79 trillion yen.
