Sony boss Kazuo Hirai says sorry but rules out selling entertainment arm

Sony had no intention of spinning off its more successful entertainment division, chief executive Kazuo Hirai told shareholders at its annual meeting yesterday.

Hirai apologised to investors for not meeting shareholder expectations and said he would plough on with restructuring efforts in a bid to return the Japanese electronics firm to profit.

The firm forecast another year of losses, its sixth in seven years, as it struggles to keep up with competition in the electronics market and has experienced losses of £491m since Hirai’s arrival in 2012.

Sony Entertainment, the film and music side of the business, has performed better with hits such as Breaking Bad and Skyfall under its belt, and Hirai offloaded Sony’s Vaio PC business earlier this year to stem losses.

Sony rebuffed a proposal last year by investor Daniel Loeb, chief of hedge fund Third Point, partially to spin off its entertainment business to unlock shareholder value.