TOKYO, May 8 – Sony Group Corp. said Friday its net profit for the fiscal year ended March fell 3.4 percent to 1.03 trillion yen ($6.57 billion), partly weighed down by its recent decision to scale down joint venture operations with Honda Motor Co., but forecast a record-high profit for the current business year.
Operating profit for the Japanese entertainment giant climbed 13.4 percent to 1.45 trillion yen in fiscal 2025 from a year earlier, with its music sector seeing brisk revenues from streaming services. Sales increased 3.7 percent to 12.48 trillion yen.
For fiscal 2026, the company said it expects net profit to grow 12.5 percent to 1.16 trillion yen and operating profit to rise 10.5 percent to 1.60 trillion yen. Sales are forecast at 12.30 trillion yen, down 1.4 percent.
The earning results were announced after Sony and Honda in April said they would scale down operations at their joint venture set up in 2022, which had planned to develop and market electric vehicles. The automaker has been reviewing its electrification strategy amid slowing demand for EVs in many countries.
Sony Group posted a loss of 44.9 billion yen for scrapping plans to market EVs.
The company’s imaging and sensing solutions sector, meanwhile, hit a record high operating profit for the fiscal year, with sales growing due to strong demand for image sensors for mobile phones.
After posting a record high net profit of 1.14 trillion yen in fiscal 2024, Sony Group said it has been hit by impairment losses from U.S. gaming company and subsidiary Bungie Inc. for fiscal 2025 among other issues but emphasized that its “business performance remained solid.”
