Electronics maker Sony Corp. said Thursday its quarterly profit rose a better-than-expected 52 percent as pension gains outweighed tumbling TV prices and losses in its movie division, but it kept its projection of a full-year loss. Sony’s core earnings remain weak amid deteriorating demand for traditional cathode-ray tube TVs, and fierce price competition in the markets for liquid crystal display televisions and image sensor chips.
Under new Chief Executive Howard Stringer, Sony embarked on a restructuring plan last month designed to help it catch up with rivals such as Matsushita and Sharp Corp. in flat TVs and Apple Computer Inc. in the portable music industry. Sony, the world’s second-largest consumer electronics maker after Matsushita, said its group operating profit came to $568.8 million in the second quarter ended September.
