For Sony, as for other Japanese companies, the first quarter of fiscal year 2017 ended June 30th. During this period, the company was able to achieve good financial performance, the growth of which, in part, occurred due to interruptions in work in the same quarter last year, when in Japan, another earthquake occurred. Then part of Sony's production lines were damaged and required restoration. In particular, the company reduced the production of image sensors for smartphones.
In the first quarter of this year, there were no cataclysms and Sony gained $ 16.59 billion for the reporting period, which is 15.2% more than last year's result. Operating income for the quarter in annual terms increased by 180.5% - to $ 1.407 billion. Net profit before tax for the year increased by 282.1% - to $ 722.
Consider the work of Sony's units. In the yen, quarterly revenue from sales of smartphones (Mobile Communications, MC) for the year decreased by 2.5%, but in dollar terms remained unchanged at $ 1.61 billion (yen for the year fell by 2.7%). But the operating profit of the unit jumped as much as 771.3%. This happened because of the reduction in development costs. During the period Sony shipped 3.4 million smartphones, which is 10% more in the annual comparison.
Sony's gaming unit - Game & Network Services (G & NS) - was the only one that showed a significant decrease in operating profit. This figure for the year fell by 59.7% to $ 158 million. Revenues of the division, however, increased by 5.4% to $ 3.1 billion during the year. The decrease in operating profit is due to the absence of the release of AAA games in the reporting period and The release of games of this category a year ago in the same quarter. Also, the drop in prices for the PlayStation 4 console affected the revenue and profit reduction.
Imaging Products & Solutions (IP & S) for the year increased revenue by 27.3% (to $ 1.38 billion) and increased operating revenue by 209.1% (to $ 207 million). The company notes a high demand for inexpensive digital photo and video cameras, and also emphasize the absence in the reporting period of the negative effect of natural disasters. Home electronics - Home Entertainment & Sound (HE & S) - brought Sony for the quarter of $ 2.29 billion (+8.9%). The operating profit in this direction increased by 11.6% to $ 201 million during the year. The increase in revenue was due to a shift towards cheaper electronic models of the company.
The semiconductor division brought the company for the quarter $ 1.82 billion (41.4% more). Last year, operating losses of $ 388 million were replaced by net operating profit of $ 494 million. The film production brought Sony $ 1.83 billion (+12.3%), but there is still no operating profit in this division, there is a loss of $ 84 million. Music Increased its revenue by 18.8% to $ 1.5 billion. Operating profit in this direction increased by 57.6% to $ 223 million. Financial operations brought the company $ 2.7 billion in the quarter, although the company's operating profit for the year Decreased by 4.8% to $ 41 million.