Music Adds $61 Million to $1 Billion Sony Loss

Sony Corp. lost $1 billion in the fiscal year which ended March 31st. The loss was blamed primarily on currency fluctuations and a 13% drop in sales. From January thru March alone, Sony lost $3 billion dollars offesetting gains made earlier in the the year and down from $6 billion in profit for the same quarter last year.

Sony BMG – now solely owned by Sony and operating as Sony Music Entertainment – lost $61 million on the year ending March 31st according to the filings. The recorded music division had contributed $100 million in profits in the previous year. In the six months since Sony took over the company, sales fell 16% with Japan noted as a particularly weak market for the recorded music division.

Sony predicts even more difficult times ahead, and has announced that is will cut 16,000 jobs across all divisions in an effort to save $1 billion. Read full consolidated results for Sony's fiscal year here. (pdf)