Sony reports higher profits on healthy demand for its video games, movies and music

by YURI KAGEYAMA, Associated Press - 08/07/24 4:59 AM ET

FILE - A man walks past the headquarters of Sony Corp. in Tokyo, on Feb. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File) — FILE – A man walks past the headquarters of Sony Corp. in Tokyo, on Feb. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

TOKYO (AP) — Sony’s profit rose 6.5% in the last quarter on robust demand for its video games, films and music, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company said Wednesday.

Tokyo-based Sony Corp.’s profit in the April-June quarter totaled 231.6 billion yen ($1.6 billion), up from 217 billion yen, it said.

Quarterly sales edged up 1.6% to 3 trillion yen ($20 billion) as Sony’s entertainment business remained strong, although its financial services business lagged.

Sony officials said global demand for its animation offerings like “Demon Slayer” remained strong, including on streaming services like Amazon Prime.

Hiroki Totoki, chief financial officer and president, promised to leverage Sony’s powerful offerings that he said are rooted in the diversity of its workers and creators.

The partnership with Crunchyroll, a U.S. video streaming service, was proving extremely successful, according to Sony.

Sony, which also makes digital cameras and TVs, raised its full year forecast through March 2025 by 1% to 980 billion yen ($6.7 billion). That’s better than the forecast it gave in May, which predicted a 925 billion ($6.3 billion) profit.

Responding to reporters’ questions on Sony’s interest in acquiring Paramount, Totoki denied it, saying a deal of that size was too risky.

Last month, Paramount announced it was merging with Skydance, based in Santa Monica, California, which helped produce major Paramount hits like Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission Impossible” series.

Sony acquired Columbia Pictures in 1989.

Although sales of PlayStation game machines have declined recently, more than 2.4 million machines were sold worldwide in the last quarter, with the estimated number of global players staying at 116 million people.

Among the popular music releases during the quarter were Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter,” Future and Metro Boomin’s “We Don’t Trust You” and SZA’s “SOS.”

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