As its struggling mobile phone business bit into the bottom line, Sony Corp. on Friday reported a wider first-half group net loss of ¥109.1 billion.
The loss posted for the first six months ending in September dwarfs the ¥16.5 billion loss logged in the same period last year.
The beleaguered electronics giant logged a group operating loss of ¥15.7 billion in the first half, reversing the ¥49.4 billion profit the previous year, and group sales of ¥3.7 trillion, up 6.5 percent.
Sony kept its full-year forecast intact after downgrading its outlook last month because it plans to book an asset impairment charge of about ¥180 billion to reform its smartphone business, which has been hurt by harsh competition from Chinese rivals.
Sony expects to post a group net loss of ¥230 billion and an operating loss of ¥40 billion in the current fiscal year through next March, with sales estimated at ¥7.8 trillion.
Last fiscal year, it posted a group net loss of ¥128.3 billion, an operating profit of ¥26.5 billion and sales of ¥7.7 trillion.
On Thursday, Sony said Hiroki Totoki, a senior vice president, will become president of subsidiary Sony Mobile Communications Inc. on Nov. 16, replacing Kunimasa Suzuki.
Totoki is currently in charge of corporate planning and finance as well as operations to create new businesses.
The appointment of the new president to the struggling mobile phone subsidiary comes after Sony last month reduced its forecast for the current year. At the time, Sony said it would not pay a dividend for the first time since it was listed in 1958.