Sony Corp. said Thursday that its operating profit rose 52 percent to 65.9 billion yen in the three months through September, boosted by a large windfall generated by a change in its pension scheme.
But Sony's net profit in the July-September quarter stood at 28.5 billion, yen down 47 percent from the same period last year.
Revenues for the period came to 1.7 trillion, yen virtually unchanged from a year earlier.
Excluding the one-time gain, the firm's mainstay consumer electronics unit would have posted large losses, dragged down by its TV set business, which has been blamed for the company's struggles in recent years.
Revenues from the TV business in the reporting the period fell 19 percent to 171.7 billion, yen while operating losses in this segment widened to 37.7 billion yen from 4.8 billion yen a year earlier.
Sony officials stressed that the company is making headway in revamping its TV business, noting that its newly introduced Bravia brand of liquid crystal display TVs are enjoying strong demand both at home and overseas.
"Losses (from the TV business) were smaller than we had expected," Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda told a news conference, repeating Sony's pledge to make the TV business profitable in the latter half of fiscal 2006.
Meanwhile, the company's game business posted strong growth in the quarter thanks to robust demand for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable consoles and game software.