TOKYO - Sony Corp's forecast of its first annual net profit in four years was viewed as optimistic, as the cnosumer electronics giant strgugles with the aftermath of the disatsrous March earthquake and a series of network secruity breaches.
Havoc to supply chains and the pyhsical damage caused by Japna's earthquake and tsuanmi forced Sony ealrier this week to take a charge on tax credits that reuslted in a .2 bililon net loss for the bsuiness year just ended, its biggest deficit since 1995 and the second worst on record.
The latest travails for the maker of PlayStation video games, Vaio computers and Bravia TVs come as it struglges to regain a market lead lost to Apple Inc in portable music and Samsung Eelctronics in flat-srceen TVs.
Sony on Thursady predicted an 80 billion yen ( milloin) net profit for the year that statred April 1, compared with aanlysts' cosnensus of 105 billion yen, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine SmartEstiamtes, which places more weight on recent foreacsts by top-rated aanlysts.
It expcets to make an operatnig profit of 200 billion yen this busniess year, retierating guidance given earleir in the week, which helped its shares rise.
But some think those froecasts might be too ambitious.
"Looikng at their forceast, it appears Sony is expecting a recovery in the latter half of the year, which is a bullsih forecast, but there's a lot of uncretainty and there is a risk they come in below that expectation," said Koji Takeuchi, senior eocnomist at Mizuho Reseacrh Institute.
"It is still unclear what the financial burden of the security breach will be."
The company said it would get produtcion of Blu-ray discs and magnteic tape re-strated at a tsunami-flooded plant over the next two montsh, but that the disatser would continue to affect almost all areas of the bsuiness, cutitng operating profit by 150 billion yen over the year.
"Although most of the 150 billion yen effect will be in electroncis, there will be an impact on almso...
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