TOKYO: Sony Group Corp. said Friday its consolidated sales in April-September grew 2.2 pct from a year earlier to a record 5,917.2 billion yen.

Sony’s net profit jumped 36.5 pct to 570.1 billion yen as its games business and mobile sensors fared well. The yen’s weakening also contributed to the profit growth.

As for the group’s platform business, sales of the PlayStation 5 home video game console fell 24 pct to 6.2 million units. But sales of third-party game software and income from PS Plus subscription services went up.

Sony Group President and CEO Hiroki Totoki told an online briefing that his company will leave its annual PS5 sales target unchanged at 18 million units, adding that the company will launch sales promotions in the second half.

Mobile sensor sales expanded, as the global smartphone market recovered gradually and unit prices rose thanks to demand for larger products.

In the music business, earnings from live events and streaming services increased.

By contrast, Sony suffered a profit decline from its film business mainly due to a strike in Hollywood. Revenue from financial services, scheduled to be spun off in October next year, fell amid volatile market fluctuations.

For the full year through next March, Sony revised up its sales projection by 100 billion yen to 12.71 trillion yen, while keeping its group net profit estimate unchanged at 980 billion yen.

JIJI Press