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Sony said it expects to log a 40 percent decline in full-year profit at its film and TV studio unit due to the pandemic. That’s marks a revision from the Tokyo-based conglomerate’s warning in May that Sony Pictures Entertainment’s income could dip 30 percent for the year. Sony Pictures, like its rivals in Hollywood, has …
Sony said it expects to log a 40 percent decline in full-year profit at its film and TV studio unit due to the pandemic.
That’s marks a revision from the Tokyo-based conglomerate’s warning in May that Sony Pictures Entertainment’s income could dip 30 percent for the year.
Sony Pictures, like its rivals in Hollywood, has been throttled by the impact of the coronavirus, as movie and TV projects have been delayed and cinemas have been temporarily shuttered.
As a result, the studio behind movies like the “Jumanji” franchise starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Greta Gerwig’s remake of “Little Women” and “Bad Boys For Life” starring Will Smith said it anticipates income for the year to drop to $387 million from $643 million a year earlier.
“Theaters are either closed or admittance is limited, and we expect the release calendar to be crowded when they do reopen,” Sony said in a statement. “Since motion pictures generate profit over multiple years, starting with theatrical release, the impact on our financial results of not being able to release them is expected to last 2 to 3 years.”
During the first quarter ended June 30, Sony Pictures said low marketing costs helped it log a profit of $230 million compared with a year-ago profit of $3.7 million.
A decline in box office sales to just $6 million from $164 million, a year earlier was offset by a 60 percent surge in home entertainment sales to $319 million and a 44 percent rise in revenue at the studio’s TV production business to $422 million.
As a result, overall revenue at Sony Pictures fell just 5.9 percent to $1.63 billion from $1.70 billion, a year earlier.
Across the wider company the Japanese electronics conglomerate reported net income of $1.8 billion and revenue of $18.6 billion.
