By Yuri Kageyama, Business Writer
TOKYO (AP) --Sony's April-June profit slipped 17% from a year earlier, as worries grew about revenue damage from a strike in the movie sector, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company said Wednesday.
Tokyo-based Sony Corp.'s fiscal first quarter profit totaled 217 billion yen ($1.5 billion), down from 261 billion yen a year ago.
Quarterly sales rose 33% to 2.96 trillion yen ($21 billion), as sales for the period grew in games and network services, the music business, financial services and imaging solutions.
Sony said its results got a boost from a favorable exchange rate. The yen has been declining lately, trading at about 143 yen to the dollar, and a weak yen is a plus for Japanese exporters like Sony.
Sony's revenue in the movies segment was expected to suffer because of the strikes by the Writers Guild of America, or WGA, and Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA.
Release dates of movies, as well as deliveries of TV series, were being delayed, according to Sony.
Sony said it shipped 3.3 million of its PlayStation 5 video game consoles during the quarter through June. Sony estimates 108 million people are active users on its Sony online gaming network, up by 5 million users from a year ago.
Among Sony's recent top-earning music releases were the "SOS" album by SZA, Miley Cyrus' "Endless Summer Vacation" and "Harry's House" from Harry Styles.
Sony raised its full year profit forecast to 860 billion yen ($6 billion) from an earlier projection for an 840 billion yen ($5.8) profit. That's lower than the profit it recorded the previous year at 1 trillion yen.
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More