Sony pledges to tackle growing losses with a huge restructuring
SONY said yesterday it would step up a broad restructuring this year to tackle bloated costs and exit some unprofitable businesses, hoping to put behind it years of persistent losses.
The Japanese consumer electronics giant, which warned yesterday of a second consecutive net loss for this financial year, was struggling to recover after being undercut by nimbler Asian rivals in its key markets.
Sony said it would spend ¥135bn (£790.2m) on restructuring in the year to 31 March, adding to the ¥177.4bn it spent in the previous year, as it sells off its loss-making Vaio PC and disc storage businesses.
It forecast those costs will push it into a ¥50bn net loss for the 2014-15 financial year, its sixth loss in seven years. Combined, these losses amount to nearly ¥1 trillion.
“We’ll make this a year of biting the bullet on restructuring,” chief financial officer Kenichiro Yoshida told an earnings briefing. “I’d like to finish restructuring this year.”