S&P: Sony unaffected

Standard & Poor's said Friday that Sony Corp.'s (A/negative/A-1) revision of its profit forecast for fiscal 2004, which ends March 2005, would not affect its rating on the company.

On Nov. 22, S&P had lowered its rating on Sony by one notch and revised the outlook on the rating to negative, based on uncertainty over improvement in Sony's profitability in its electronics business. As a result, the revised profit forecast announced on Jan. 20 was within S&P's expectations.

For fiscal 2004, Sony is forecasting total sales at ¥7.15 trillion and operating profit at ¥110 billion. These projections represent cuts of ¥200 billion and ¥50 billion, respectively, from its previous forecast. The decrease is attributable mainly to the weak performance of the company's electronics business due to price falls of audiovisual products, a competitive market environment for portable audio equipment, and a drop in sales of semiconductors and electronics components.

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