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First Posted: 10/31/2013

(AP) The “White House Down” flop added to earnings woes at Sony Corp. in the latest quarter, dragging the entertainment and electronics giant to a 19.3 billion yen ($196 million) loss.


The action movie’s lackluster box office performance, especially compared with last year’s releases of “21 Jump Street” and “The Amazing Spider Man,” contributed to a 17.8 billion yen ($181 million) operating loss for Sony’s pictures division, the company said Thursday.


Sales for the July-September quarter rose 10.6 percent from a year earlier to 1.78 trillion yen ($18.1 billion), thanks mainly to the favorable impact of the yen’s decline against the U.S. dollar. Adjusted for the 20 percent drop in the value of the yen, revenue fell 9 percent.


The company’s sales of digital cameras and video cameras fell while its television, music and smartphone businesses improved.


Sony slashed its profit forecast for the fiscal year ending in March to 30 billion yen from 50 billion yen, due to weak sales and strong price competition.


Rival Panasonic, meanwhile, said its quarterly profit improved to 63.3 billion yen ($644 million) from a 698.6 billion yen loss the year before.


Panasonic, like Sony, has benefited from weaker yen. While its domestic sales fell 4 percent, sales overseas climbed 11 percent. Total revenue of 1.88 trillion yen ($19.1 billion) was up 3 percent from a year earlier after taking a hit from the sale of Sanyo businesses carried out in the current fiscal year.


Panasonic raised its sales forecast to 7.4 trillion yen ($75.3 billion) and doubled its profit forecast for the fiscal year to 100 billion yen ($1 billion).


Associated Press