Sony Reports FY2016 Results

Sony reports its quarterly and yearly results. Few slides showing image sensor business status and the new year forecas:

From the Sony PR:

Results for a fiscal year ended on March 31, 2017:

"Sales increased 4.6% year-on-year (a 15% increase on a constant currency basis) to 773.1 billion yen (6,903 million U.S. dollars). This increase in sales was primarily due to a significant increase in unit sales of image sensors mainly for mobile products, partially offset by the impact of foreign exchange rates, a significant decrease in sales of camera modules, a business which was downsized, and the decrease in production due to the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes. Sales to external customers increased 10.1% year-on-year.

Operating loss of 7.8 billion yen (70 million U.S. dollars) was recorded, compared to operating income of 14.5 billion yen in the previous fiscal year. This significant deterioration in operating results was primarily due to the negative impact of foreign exchange rates, the above-mentioned expenses resulting from the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes, and a 6.5 billion yen (58 million U.S. dollars) write-down of inventories of certain image sensors mainly for mobile products. This deterioration was partially offset by the above-mentioned year-on-year increase in sales and the decrease in impairment charges against long-lived assets related to the camera module business.
During the current fiscal year, there was a 43.7 billion yen negative impact from foreign exchange rate fluctuations."

Last quarter results:

"In the Semiconductors segment, sales increased significantly due to an increase in unit sales of image sensors. Sales to external customers also increased significantly year-on-year."

Reuters comments: "Image sensors have emerged as the biggest contributor to profit growth, as operations at a factory damaged by earthquakes a year ago return to normal just as smartphone makers are increasingly adopting dual-lens rear cameras in their handsets, requiring extra sensors.

"The market is growing for higher-end models with dual-lens rear cameras or with high-performance front cameras designed for self-shooting," Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida said at an earnings briefing. "That serves as a tailwind for us."

Sony forecast its chip division, which includes image sensors, to return to profit this year, at 120 billion yen.

To meet increased demand, it will more than double capital expenditure on image sensors to 110 billion yen, raising production capacity by 13.6 percent by the end of March."