Sony Suffers Record $5.7 Billion Annual Loss
Citing the impact of the Japanese earthquake and an unfavorable exchange rate, Sony said Thursday that it has suffered a record annual losses of $5.7 billion.
It was the fourth straight fiscal year of deficits for the hobbled electronics giant.
Revenue at the company slid nearly 10 percent compared to last year, topping out at $79.2 billion.
Wall Street was not anticipating great things from the embattled company, but Sony still managed to miss projections. Analysts forecast losses of $5.3 billion, according to FactSet.
Sony forecast, however, that it would soon be able to lift itself out of all the red ink. The company ambitiously predicted that it would return to profitability in 2013 to the tune of $375 million because of a resurgent smartphone and tablet business.
It would also benefit from the lack of a natural disaster. The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan disrupted Sony's supply chain, damaging several factories and delaying certain product launches, the company said.
The company is trying to turn the page on this anemic period in its history. Most notably, Sony dramatically shook up its management structure, replacing Howard Stringer as chief executive officer with Kazuo Hirai, and announcing an increased emphasis on gaming and mobile devices.
As part of the overhaul, the company also announced it would lay off 6 percent of its global work force or roughly 10,000 positions.
Sony's Hollywood operations continued to be a rare bright spot on the struggling company's balance sheets, with sales jumping 9.6 percent to $8.2 billion. Sony attributed the strong results to the success of "The Smurfs" and "Bad Teacher," as well as merchandising rights sales for its ''Spider-Man'' franchise.
Shares of the company rose 1.8 percent to $15.51 in morning trading.
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