Japan's Sony Corp reported a second-quarter operating loss on Friday that was narrower than analysts had estimated, as blockbuster sales of its PlayStation 4 games console reduced the impact of a sluggish smartphone division.
Operating loss reached 85.6 billion yen ($771 million) in July-September, compared with the 164.3 billion yen average estimate of 3 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. In the same quarter last year, Sony booked a profit of 14.8 billion yen.
The company posted a net loss of 136 billion yen for the quarter and held its full-year net loss forecast at 230 billion yen.
Sony also lowered its smartphone sales outlook to 41 million handsets from 43 million, compared with 39 million last year.
Shares of Sony closed 0.8 percent higher before the earnings announcement, compared with a 4.8 percent rise in the Nikkei benchmark index after the Bank of Japan announced furthering monetary easing.
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