The company’s net profit fell 14.3 percent to 882.2 billion yen, and group sales increased 10.3 percent to 9.92 trillion yen (CZK 1.8 trillion).

Sony expects its operating profit for the current financial year to fall slightly to around 1.16 trillion yen. According to Refinitiv, analysts expect operating profit to reach 1.21 trillion yen.

Although interest in video games was weaker in full-year results, Sony increased its operating profit by 109 percent to 138.6 billion yen in the fourth quarter on the performance of its gaming and network services division. Sales from January to March totaled 2.2 trillion yen, up one percent year on year. Sony’s net profit for the quarter increased 67 percent to 111.1 billion yen.

The company is benefiting from strong demand for the PlayStation 5 game console, where customers can download games and sign up for prepaid services.

In the last financial year, 11.5 million of them were sold. Since its launch in 2020, nearly 20 million units have been shipped, despite a shortage of semiconductors that have limited production, Reuters said.

Interest in the PlayStation 5 is currently so high that most retailers don’t have it. One should wait quietly for a few months after ordering.

Sony is now expanding its software business. In February, the company announced an acquisition that would take over Bungie for $3.6 billion (CZK 85 billion). It is based in Bellevue, Washington. Among other things, the Halo video game series comes from his workshop. It was founded as a private company in 2007, when it separated from Microsoft.