Sony Corp. said Tuesday it is now expecting a record group operating profit of ¥630 billion for the current fiscal year through next March, topping its target of over ¥500 billion on its brisk music and semiconductor businesses and the weaker yen.
The ¥630 billion profit would exceed the company's all-time high operating profit of ¥525.7 billion in fiscal 1997. The profit target of more than ¥500 billion was set under Sony's three-year business plan through fiscal 2017.
The major electronics maker raised its projection for group net profit in fiscal 2017 to ¥380 billion, up 26 percent from its estimate in August. The company upgraded its sales outlook to ¥8.5 trillion, up 2.4 percent
The company said that its group net profit in the April-September period jumped eightfold from a year earlier to a record ¥211.7 billion, reflecting the recovery of its semiconductor business from earthquake-related damage sustained last year.
Its consolidated operating profit in the first half of the business year through September increased more than threefold to ¥361.8 billion, also a record high, while sales were up 18.7 percent at ¥3.92 trillion, the company said.