Sony shares tumble despite second quarter profit from PlayStation 4 sales surge
Sony's restructuring is starting to pay off as the company reported it was back in black, but shares have tumbled by as much as five per cent.
The figures
Profit for the three months to the end of September came in at 33.6bn yen (£182m) compared to a loss of 136bn yen in the same quarter last year when it took a right down on its smartphone business, making it its best second quarter profit in eight years.
Sales slipped 0.5 per cent to 1.8tn, saved by PlayStation 4 and image sensor technology (used by Apple) sales as smartphones slipped in the competitive mobile market and its film unit failed to produce big hits so far this year.
Restructuring charges fell 35 per cent to 15.7bn yen.
Why it's interesting
Sony has struggled to stay ahead in the ever changing world of consumer electronics. But is following a restructuring plan to turn things around with the aim of returning to profit by March 2016.
What Sony said
On the standout success of PlayStation 4: "Sales are expected to be higher than the July forecast primarily due to an expected increase in PS4 hardware unit sales and PS4 software sales. Operating income is expected to be above the July forecast primarily due to an increase in PS4 software sales and PS4 hardware cost reductions."
In short
It's a solid sign that the Japanese tech giant is steering itself on to a new course, however, investors may not yet be convinced.