Sony expects record profits following high demand

After a growth in earnings, Sony is expecting a huge jump in annual operating profits. 

The Japanese firm raised forecasts 30% from the estimates in July, increasing annual profit forecast to 870 billion yen ($7.7 billion; £6.0 billion).

The higher-than-expected profits come following a high demand for games including God of War and Spider-Man.

Sam Reynolds, who is an IDC gaming analyst, said the electronics firm had posted “impressive earnings based on the strength of the gaming market”.

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Stong sales are thanks to the “the quality of games on the platform” including best-sellers such as Red Dead Redemption II.

The group have also seen a strong growth in sales in the PlayStation division.

In April, the God of War game sold 3.1 million copies in the first three days of its release. Another record was soon broken in September when the Spider-Man made 3.3 million sales in the first three days of release. 

“Our expectations are always set at the highest levels,” said Stephen Turvey, PlayStation’s global senior VP of sales. “It’s met and exceeded all expectations. I think the company and the campus and our fans are super proud of it.”

Finance director, Hiroki Totoki, said: “We’ve been blessed with some blockbuster titles.”

“The lineup will remain strong in the second half of the year,” he added.

Sony’s rival Nintendo also saw strong sales, leading to its net profit rising by over 25% for the six months to September thanks to the demand for “Donkey Kong” and “Mario” series.

The gaming group reported a net profit of 64.6 billion yen ($574 million) for the six months to September, on sales which were up 4%.

Shares in Sony (TYO: 6758) are trading +1.03% at 5.862 (1503GMT).

Shares in Nintendo (TYO: 7974) are trading +1.67% at 35.250 (1503GMT).