Continuing their attack on the bottom line, Sony have announced the sale of the corporation’s stake in social game operator DeNA. The sale is expected to raise £290 million, furthering Kaz Hirai’s goal of achieving a 20 Million Yen net profit for this financial year.
DeNa’s subsidiaries include well known mobile game publisher ngmoco, and ownership of the Mobage platform, a gaming portal for mobile phones which is particularly popular in Japan. Sony was the second largest shareholder of the company, though this was due primarily to the buy-out of another party, So-net Entertainment, in January.
It had been speculated that Sony’s ownership of the shares could lead them to explore different avenues within mobile gaming, but with the confirmed sale to Nomura Securities that is presumably not the case.
Alongside the sales of their office blocks in Tokyo and New York, the move clearly shows a revitalised Sony that is looking to secure its financial position and reverse its recent losses. However, with the research and development of the PS4, and its impending production, Sony Computer Entertainment is still likely to contribute a loss despite improving profitability from the older PS3.
Source: Bloomberg.
bunimomike
Great to see Kaz forging ahead with the plan. Fingers crossed, Sony finally get there with a focussed portfolio of hardware (TV, PlayStation, etc) and branch out when it’s time and absolutely no sooner. Do not spread yourselves too thinly this time, Sony.
ron_mcphatty
Indeed, nothing like some good hard consolidation, especially when its selling off some expensive shares first rather than redundancies.
bunimomike
Sadly, I think both (and more) has been done. Sony were haemorrhaging money faster than my ex in the January sales.
I’m just glad to see the losses finally coming down and the hope of them turning a profit… one day. Actually, that day, no matter how small a profit, will be a momentous occasion.
ron_mcphatty
Sorry, you’re right, I should have said more redundancies. I’m amazed at how big firms are able to carry on for so long without making profit, I can’t understand how exactly it’s happening. What’s the straw that breaks the camels back, who decides when a company must call it a day? I never learnt about economics at school but I’d love to now.
cam the man
If the PS4 sells as well as the PS2 all their worries will be behind them.
I hope it gets a good launch.