Sony Corp. said Wednesday that its group operating profit tumbled 90.1 percent to ¥11 billion for the July-September quarter from a year earlier, as the global economic slowdown hit sales of its gadgets and the surging yen ate into its profits.
The electronics giant's group net profit also fell, down 71.8 percent to ¥20.8 billion. Sales were down 0.5 percent at ¥2.07 trillion.
However, the overriding reason for the deteriorating profits in the quarter was the sharp fall in the price of shares owned by Sony's financial unit, Sony Life Insurance Co., according to Sony Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda.