Sony Sees Record Net on Bravia TVs, Smaller PS3 Loss

Sony Corp., the world's second-largest maker of consumer electronics, said profit will more than double to a record this year on sales of Bravia televisions and narrower losses at the PlayStation game unit.

Net income will rise to 320 billion yen ($2.7 billion) for the year ending March 31, 2008, Tokyo-based Sony said today. Its fiscal fourth-quarter loss widened to the most in four years, after the PlayStation 3 was outsold by Nintendo Co.'s Wii console. The stock rose 1.3 percent in Frankfurt from the Tokyo close.

Reduced game losses would help Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer meet his promise to raise the company's operating profit to 5 percent of sales this year, on a par with larger rival Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Earnings at Sony will also get a boost from the movie unit, whose ''Spider-Man 3'' generated record box-office sales when it opened this month.