Sony swings to $35 million quarterly net profit

Japan's electronics giant Sony said Thursday it swung back to a net profit of $35 million for the April-June quarter, while boosting its annual sales forecast.

Sony racked up a 3.5 billion yen net profit for the three months to June, reversing a net loss of 24.6 billion yen a year earlier, as it lifted its full-year to March 2014 sales target to 7.9 trillion yen, up from 7.5 trillion yen.

At the operating level, Sony said its profit in the quarter soared more than five-fold to 36.4 billion yen.

The improving results come after Sony said in May it had booked its first annual net profit in five years, offering a glimmer of hope for the former market leader.

But its jump back into the black was largely due to fluctuations in the value of the yen and gains from a string of asset sales including unloading its Manhattan office building for more than $1.0 billion while its television and electronics business continues to struggle.

Japan's electronics giants have been undergoing painful restructurings aimed at stemming years of record losses largely tied to their dented electronics units.

The sector has had trouble keeping up in the low-margin television business while foreign rivals including Apple and South Korea's Samsung have blown past then in the lucrative smartphone sector.