Sony explores a partial spinoff for financial business
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Sony Group has said that it is currently considering the partial spinoff of its financial division. These plans came around three years after the company took control of this division. The entertainment giant is also doubling down on its entertainment business and image sensors.
Sony considers a partial spinoff of the financial business
A Reuters report said that Sony Group has said that it is currently considering a time frame of between two and three years to spin off the Sony Financial Group. The operations of this division include banking and life insurance. The company is also exploring listing the business and retailing a stake of below 20%.
The business requires significant capital. According to the Chief Financial Officer at Sony, Hiroki Totoki, it was challenging to balance the business alongside the investments done in other growth divisions like entertainment and image sensors.
The entertainment company is also exploring synergies between its business divisions, including video games, music, and movies. It has said that its hit drama film, “The Last of Us,” on the HBO television network, triggered interest in its game franchise. Sony converted the film into a game that has transformed the video franchise business.
If Sony achieves a partial spinoff for Sony Financial, it will allow the business to retail the branding by Sony. The company said that the spinoff was made possible by the changes that had been made in the tax rules.
The spinoff will not have a drastic effect on the outlook of the company. However, the move will see the company becoming more of a play entertainment company, which is preferred by the market. The finance division at Sony saw a 5% decline in revenue to 1.45 trillion ten in the year that ended March. The operating profit also increased by 49% to 223.9 billion yen.
Last month, Sony released its financial results for the financial year ended March 31, 2023. During the current financial year, the entertainment company expects that the revenue will drop by 40% because of an accounting change. The profits are also expected to drop by 20% because of the lack of one-off gains during the previous year.
Sony’s PlayStation business
Sony has said that it expects to sell 25 million PlayStation 5 consoles during the current financial year as the supply chain recovers. If this achieves, it will be a record for the company. However, the company is also anticipating a drop in first-party software sales.
Rival game publisher, Nintendo, has sold more than 10 million copies of “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” in just three days of launch. Nintendo has a Switch console with an install base of over 125 million units.
Nintendo also recorded massive success in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” The CEO of Sony, Kenichiro Yoshida, said that he has watched the Super Marios movie and that he has previously played the game. Yoshida said that the game had loveable characters and intellectual property that could last for up to 100 years.
