Tokyo – Sony today posted a $5.7 billion net loss for its
fiscal year, ended March 31.
The loss was on sales of $79.2 billion, a 9.6 percent drop
compared with the prior fiscal year in yen, the company said. According to
published reports, this is the fourth consecutive year Sony has reported a
loss.
Sony’s also reported a loss of $3.2 billion on sales of
$15.7 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter, ended March 31.
Sony attributed the loss to a variety of factors outside its
control, namely damages resulting from the earthquake and tsunamis that ravaged
Japan on March 11, 2011, along with flooding that shuttered several company
facilities in Thailand at the end of 2011. It also attributed the loss to the
impact of unfavorable foreign exchange rates.
Company executives said they expect a better performance
going forward as these areas recover from the natural disasters.
Sony posted an 18.5 percent drop in revenue on consumer
products and services for the year to $38.2 billion. The decrease was due to
flagging sales in LCD TVs, PC, imaging products and gaming consoles. LCD TV sales
were particularly poor in Japan, Europe and North America, the company said,
while PC and digital imaging sales declines were blamed specifically on the
Thai flooding and monetary exchange rates. The fall-off in game consoles was
attributed to PlayStation3 sales and a drop off in PS2 sales
