Sony shares slide 10% after dividend scrapped

TOKYO: Sony Corp shares fell more than 10% on Thursday in their biggest drop in more than 10 months after the Japanese consumer electronics maker announced deep losses in its smartphone business and scrapped its dividend for the first time since it listed in 1958.

The surprise axing of the dividend abruptly ended a 6-week rally that had lifted Sony's shares as much as 25% to their highest in more than a year, fuelled by rising confidence in the company's restructuring and its plans for the automotive sensor business.