9:00AM New York - Sony Corp’s third quarter sales and revenue increased 9.6% to 2.85 trillion yen on 10.2% year-on-year sales rise in electronics equipment.

Quarterly Earnings Review

Sony Corp. reported third quarter sales and operating revenue jumped 9.6% to 2.85 trillion yen from 2.60 trillion yen a year ago on increased sales of BRAVIA LCD televisions, especially in Europe.

In the third quarter, net income rose 25.2% to 200.2 billion yen from 159.9 billion yen a year ago. Third quarter earnings per share climbed 25% to 199.60 yen from 159.70 yen.

Sony said operating income rose 5.8% to 189.4 billion yen from 178.9 billion yen on a weaker yen and increased sales.

Nine-Month Earnings Review

In the nine months ended December 31st, net sales rose 12% to 6.3 trillion yen from 5.6 trillion yen from the previous comparable period. Operating income gained 104.8% to 379 billion yen from 185 billion yen a year ago.

In addition, net income in the nine months ended December 31st jumped 75.6% to 340 billion yen from 193 billion yen a year ago.

Revenue

Sales in the electronic segment for the quarter gained 10.2% year-on-year to 2.069 billion yen on strong sales of BRAVIA LCD televisions and VAIO PCs.

Mobile phones sales increased 18% year-on-year to 30.8 million units buoyed by strong performance from Walkman and Cybershot phones. Total sales topped 3.711 million euros.

Sales in the gaming segment rose 31.2% year-on-year to 581.2 billion yen, buoyed by PlayStation 3 hardware cost reductions.

Sales in the pictures segment declined 24.6% to 223 billion yen, weighed by the underperformance of films and plummeting revenues from films released in the quarter compared with the same quarter last year.

Furthermore, third quarter sales in the financial services segment dropped 21.4% from a year earlier due to the deterioration in net value gains from convertible bonds and the underperformance of Japan’s stock market.

Outlook

Sony estimated that full-year earnings will remain unchanged at 8.9 trillion yen from the October forecast as the trading environment will increasingly be affected by shrinking demand from the U.S. as a result of the turbulence on the financial markets and a strengthening yen.

Operating income for the year through March is forecasted to plummet 9% to 400 billion yen from 450 billion yen as per the October forecast.

Full year net income is estimated to rise 3% to 340 billion yen from 330 billion that the company expected earlier.