By Yuri Kageyama, Business Writer
TOKYO (AP) --Sony's profit edged up 3% in the last quarter, weathering production setbacks from COVID-19 lockdowns in Shanghai and a trend away from video gaming as pandemic restrictions eased elsewhere.
Tokyo-based Sony Corp.'s April-June profit totaled 218 billion yen ($1.6 billion), up from 212 billion yen a year earlier, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company said Friday.
Quarterly sales rose 2% to 2.31 trillion yen ($17.4 billion), on the back of strong demand in Sony's music operations, including for Harry Styles' "Harry's House" and Doja Cat's "Planet Her."
Among the better performers in movies was "Morbius," a film based on the Marvel Comics hero. But Sony is hoping "Bullet Train," starring Brad Pitt and set for release in August, will do well at the box office.
Sony, which makes the PlayStation video game consoles, Bravia TVs and Columbia Pictures films, said sales from its music streaming service rose during the quarter. Despite some concern about a global economic slowdown, the streaming business was expected to remain stable, said Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki.
Sales fell in the video games sector and technology services. One reason was that, as restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic eased, people were playing games less and instead going out, Totoki said.
Also, a shortage of computer chips has slowed production of the Sony's PlayStation 5 machine.
Sony's game software sales fell in the latest quarter, while costs for developing software rose. Sony acknowledged the slowdown in shipments may dampen the momentum of game players' interest in PlayStation 5. But the company is banking on major game titles slated for release later in the year to revive sales.
Sony said it expects its full fiscal year profit to fall to 800 billion yen ($6 billion) from the previous year's 882 billion yen.
Sean “Diddy” Combs to stay in jail while appeals court takes up bail fight
A federal appeals court judge has ruled to keep Sean "Diddy" Combs locked up while he makes a third bid for bail in his sex trafficking case, which is slated to go to trial in May.
In a decision filed Friday, Circuit Judge William J. Nardini denied the hip-hop mogul's immediate release from jail while a three-judge panel weighs his bail request.
Combs' lawyers appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 30 after two judges rejected his release.
Combs, 54, has been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn since his Sept. 16 arrest on charges that he used his "power and prestige" as a music star to induce female victims into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances with male sex workers in events dubbed "Freak Offs."
Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges alleging he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
At a bail hearing three weeks ago, a judge rejected the defense's $50 million bail proposal that would've allowed the "I'll Be Missing You" singer to be placed under house arrest at his Florida mansion with GPS monitoring and strict limits on visitors.
Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr., who has since recused himself from the case, said that prosecutors had presented "clear and convincing evidence" that Combs is a danger to the community. He said "no condition or set of conditions" could guard against the risk of Combs obstructing the investigation or threatening or harming witnesses.
In their appeal, Combs' lawyers argued that the judge had "endorsed the government's exaggerated rhetoric" and ordered Combs... Read More