Sony share price up, sees lower net loss in 2014

Sony Corp projected on Wednesday a smaller loss during 2014 as the Japanese company benefited from higher demand for its image sensors and PlayStation 4 gaming consoles.

The Tokyo-based company estimated that net loss for the financial year ending March 31 would be ¥170 billion, previously Sony projected it would report a loss of ¥230 billion. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting a loss of ¥179.5 billion.

The company also projected its full-year revenue to hit ¥8 trillion combined with an operating profit of ¥20 billion, an improvement compared to its previous estimate of ¥7.8 trillion in operating profit and a ¥40 billion operating loss.

Sony significantly improved its outlook for the devices division and now expected to unit to report an operating income of ¥100 billion, up ¥33 billion from its previous projection. Sony boosted it prediction as it anticipates higher sales of its image sensors, which are used in smartphones.

The Japanese electronics maker also announced preliminary results for the third quarter ended December 31. The figures are not final due to the recent hacking of its movie unit, which left Sony Pictures Entertainment without access to its computer network for several days.

The attack forced the movie unit to shut down its intranet system in order to prevent further damage. However, Sonys network hardware, which contains vast amounts of data including its performance figures, was already hurt.

Due to the loss of information Sony has asked the Financial Services Agency of Japan to extend the deadline by which the company must report its third-quarter results from February 16 to March 31.

However, the companys preliminary performance figures showed that its net income during the Christmas quarter significantly increased to ¥89 billion compared to the ¥26.4 billion the company reported a year ago.

Operating income doubled to ¥178.3 billion and revenue climbed 6% to ¥2.56 trillion. In comparison analysts at Thomson Reuters had projected sales of ¥2.38 trillion with an operating profit of ¥96.6 billion.

Sony said that it benefited from a favorable impact of foreign exchange rates during the three months. The company also contributed performance to stronger results from its struggling mobile division, where sales picked in the recent quarter.

The companys device segment also outperformed, due to increased revenue from image sensors, which it also supplies to Apple. Sonys Game & network services unit also posted good figures, boosted by strong PlayStation 4 sales.

Sony Corp climbed 2.65% on Wednesday and closed at ¥2 769 in Tokyo, marking a one-year increase of 80.98%. The company is valued at ¥3.12 trillion.

According to the Financial Times, the 18 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Sony have a median target of ¥3 000, with a high estimate of ¥3 700 and a low estimate of ¥1 750. The median estimate represents a 11.21% increase from the last close price.