Sony Pictures Profits Slip to $124 Million in Second Quarter as Group Makes 75% Leap

Sony Group Corporation reported little changed revenues of JPY2.91 trillion for the July to September period, representing the second quarter of its April to March financial year. But group-level net income surged by 75% to JPY3.39 trillion.

The ‘Pictures Division,’ which spans the feature film, TV channels and TV content production operations, reported revenues of $2.38 billion for the three months with operating income of $124 million and adjusted operating income of $218 million.

Each of those represented quarter-on-quarter increases, though sales and operating income were down on a year-on-year comparison. In the second quarter of last year, pictures division profits were $204 million.

The Games and Network Services division achieved sales and income gains. Revenues were JPY1.07 trillion, compared with JPY954 billion in the same quarter last year. Operating income was JPY139 billion, compared with JPY49 billion.

The Music Division reported revenues of JPY448 billion, compared with JPY409 billion. Its operating income also improved to JPY90.4 billion, compared with JPY81 billion.

The Pictures Division continued to feel the impact of the 2023 writers and actors strikes, causing production delays and lower deliveries, Sony said. That was partly offset by higher revenues at Crunchyroll and a positive impact from Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Profitsin the unit were also affected by higher programming and marketing costs in the group’s India media networks.

While there have been industry questions over the last decade about Sony’s position within, and commitment to, the entertainment business, the group itself is no longer in any doubt.

The 2024 edition of Sony’s corporate report, published in September separately from its annual financial report, included a “Creative Entertainment Vision” statement, setting out its media and entertainment strategy for the next ten years. It handily explained how the group is pivoting from delivering ‘kando’ (which loosely translates to English as ‘happiness’) through hardware such as TV sets and the Walkman music players, to creating it instead.

Taking the example of anime (Japanese animated series and films), it explained how the group should maximize intellectual property value first of all by more thoroughly exploiting its own different units. Anime, which is forecast to grow internationally, is created through Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), and exploited through Crunchyroll, Sony’s direct to consumer streaming platform that is a joint venture between Los Angeles-based Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Aniplex.