Fiscal 2012 sees Sony posting the 1st annual profit in 5 years-- even if said return to black is less the result of CE sales and more of property sales, belt-tightening measures and a weak yen.
Thus in the year ending 31 March 2013 the company makes net profits worth $436 million from $68.4 billion in sales (with 4.7% growth), a contrast from the $4.6 billion losses seen in 2011.
“We set out this year with the aim of doing everything we can to get back in the black,” Sony CFO Masaru Kato says. “This year, we absolutely intend to make a profit in electronics.”
The escape from the red is due to various streamlining efforts, such as the dissolving of flat-panel TV making ventures with Sharp and Samsung, the dropping of its chemical product business and various asset sales (including the company's New York U.S. HQ) worth nearly $2.5bn.