Sony slashes profit estimate

TOKYO: Sony Corp slashed its operating profit estimate by nearly 70% for the financial year ended March 31, saying it expects its exit from PCs to add nearly US$300mil in extra costs as it struggles to stem losses on electronics.

The Japanese consumer electronics giant on Thursday cut its operating profit forecast to 26 billion yen (US$254.53mil) from a previous estimate of 80 billion yen, adding that it would book 25 billion yen in impairment losses from its DVD and CDROM production unit for fiscal 2013 due to weak demand in Europe.