Sony Corp. said Tuesday it expects its net profit to be 510 billion yen ($4.8 billion) in the current business year through next March, down 12.4 percent from the previous year.

Sony, which released its earnings projections for the current business year for the first time, said its net profit surged 53.3 percent to 233.25 billion yen in the April-June period, backed by robust demand for gaming products amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In the first quarter, the electronics and entertainment giant's operating profit fell 1.1 percent to 228.40 billion yen, on sales of 1.97 trillion yen, up 2.2 percent from a year earlier.

==Kyodo

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