Sony’s operating profit rose 10% in the third quarter, ahead of forecasts, supported by the strength of the company’s financial, film and music businesses.
The Japanese group, which last year said it was exploring the possibility of an IPO its financial business, said it plans to list Sony Financial Group in September 2025. Sony added that it would retain a stake of just under 20% in the unit until focuses on expanding entertainment offerings and graphics sensors.
Known as the inventor of the Walkman, Sony has transformed itself from an electronics maker into a behemoth in technology, movies, music, games and chips.
The giant’s October-December profit came in at 463.3 billion JPY (3.08 billion USD), beating the average forecast of 428 billion JPY.
Sony said it sold 8.2 million PlayStation 5 (PS5) units in the third quarter, which spans the key year-end shopping season. For comparison, a year earlier the company had sold 7.1 million units. The investors are watching console sales closely for signs of slowing momentum. Sony had said it was aiming to sell 25 million PS5 units this fiscal year, but had sold a total of 16.4 million as of the end of December.
The games business’s operating profit fell by about a quarter, hit by a higher loss on hardware due to promotions and weaker sales of its own titles.
Sony claims it has sold 10 million copies of “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2”, which was released on October 20. The company released a lighter version of the console from November to support its sales.
Last week, Nintendo raised its forecast for annual sales of the Switch console to 15.5 million units, up from 15 million previously. This comes as the Kyoto-based company extends the life cycle of its aging console.
Xbox maker Microsoft is due to share news about its gaming business on Thursday.
Sony, a leading maker of image sensors for smartphones, said profit at its chip division rose 18% on higher sales.
