Sony reports £3.5bn annual loss

Japanese electronics giant Sony has reported a 456.7bn (3.5bn) loss for the year ended March 31st 2012.

That’s significantly down on the 259.6bn loss reported the year before.

The company’s Consumer Products and Services Division, which houses its PlayStation operations, posted a 229.8bn loss, down from last year’s 10.8bn profit.

Global PS3 unit sales were down year-on-year, too, falling from 14.3m to 13.9m. PS3 software sales climbed slightly to 156.6m units.

Interesting, PlayStation Vita unit sales were not reported, though Sony did forecast 16m unit sales for the current fiscal year. PSP sales fell from 8m units to 6.8m.

Despite the struggles, Sony predicts that it will scrape a profit of 30bn in the current fiscal year. However, with Europe likely to remain challenging and the Yen holding its strength this may prove a large challenge for the company.