Three more fiscal years of $500M improvements and Sony will be breaking even! So that's good news. So back in the black circa 2018.
Sony's financial woes
- Thread starter starlight777
- Start date
http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...-pictures-bob-osher-exits-20150226-story.html
Sony Pictures digital president Bob Osher exits
RYAN FAUGHNDERcontact the reporter
Osher, who oversaw Sony Pictures Animation and visual effects unit Imageworks, is leaving to "pursue other interests," according to an internal memo from Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Michael Lynton.
This comes just two days after veteran film executive Tom Rothman was named as Sony's next film group president, replacing Amy Pascal, who was forced out this month.
Under Osher, Sony's animation division launched franchises including "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," "Smurfs" and "Hotel Transylvania."
Osher has led Sony Pictures Digital Productions since 2009, after serving as chief operating officer of the Columbia Pictures Motion Picture Group since 2004.
Sony Pictures Animation was part of the digital productions division until this year. In January, Kristine Belson was named president of the animation arm.
I want to thank Bob for his 11 years of service and acknowledge the important role he played in strengthening the financial and operational foundation of SPDP," Lynton said in the memo, which was obtained by The Times.
Seperately, Lynton laid out a reorganization of the digital unit to "increase collaboration across the studio."
Imageworks will now be part of the Motion Picture Group. In addition, other units, including post production services, will be aligned with the movies group and Sony Pictures Television.
SPDP will be led by its Executive Vice President Randy Lake.
Sony Pictures digital president Bob Osher exits
RYAN FAUGHNDERcontact the reporter
Osher, who oversaw Sony Pictures Animation and visual effects unit Imageworks, is leaving to "pursue other interests," according to an internal memo from Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Michael Lynton.
This comes just two days after veteran film executive Tom Rothman was named as Sony's next film group president, replacing Amy Pascal, who was forced out this month.
Under Osher, Sony's animation division launched franchises including "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," "Smurfs" and "Hotel Transylvania."
Osher has led Sony Pictures Digital Productions since 2009, after serving as chief operating officer of the Columbia Pictures Motion Picture Group since 2004.
Sony Pictures Animation was part of the digital productions division until this year. In January, Kristine Belson was named president of the animation arm.
I want to thank Bob for his 11 years of service and acknowledge the important role he played in strengthening the financial and operational foundation of SPDP," Lynton said in the memo, which was obtained by The Times.
Seperately, Lynton laid out a reorganization of the digital unit to "increase collaboration across the studio."
Imageworks will now be part of the Motion Picture Group. In addition, other units, including post production services, will be aligned with the movies group and Sony Pictures Television.
SPDP will be led by its Executive Vice President Randy Lake.
Heard he was so busy playing Xbox One that he couldn't handle the job anymore. That's the rumor anyway...
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1012801
Evolution Studios reducing? (DriveClub)
Will Maiden @arconic 2m2 minutes ago
Sad news coming out of Evolution Studios this afternoon. Hope all those superstars make it through this.
edit: Seems like he removed the tweet ( )
2nd edit (thx to bananafactory):
Will Maiden
@arconic
@CaptSkyRocket heard some things, not my news to spread tho, so I deleted it
Evolution Studios reducing? (DriveClub)
Will Maiden @arconic 2m2 minutes ago
Sad news coming out of Evolution Studios this afternoon. Hope all those superstars make it through this.
edit: Seems like he removed the tweet ( )
2nd edit (thx to bananafactory):
Will Maiden
@arconic
@CaptSkyRocket heard some things, not my news to spread tho, so I deleted it
It's official.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-03-19-layoffs-at-driveclub-developer-evolution
Layoffs at DriveClub developer Evolution
Studio to focus on DriveClub as a service, MIA PS Plus Edition.
By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 19/03/2015
Driveclub developer Evolution has suffered a number of layoffs, Sony has confirmed to Eurogamer.
Sony has restructured Evolution to focus on updating its PlayStation 4-exclusive racing game as a service, as well as the launch of the long-delayed PS Plus Edition.
Runcorn-based Evolution is part of Sony's vast Worldwide Studios set up, which includes Killzone maker Guerrilla Games, Uncharted developer Naughty Dog and SingStar creator Sony London Studio.
DriveClub was originally set to launch alongside the PS4 in November 2013, but was delayed a year to 10th October 2014.
Server issues marred the game's launch and set back the release of the PS Plus Edition, but Eurogamer understands it sold well, particularly in Europe, and the studio is not closing down.
Here's Sony's statement:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-03-19-layoffs-at-driveclub-developer-evolution
Layoffs at DriveClub developer Evolution
Studio to focus on DriveClub as a service, MIA PS Plus Edition.
By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 19/03/2015
Driveclub developer Evolution has suffered a number of layoffs, Sony has confirmed to Eurogamer.
Sony has restructured Evolution to focus on updating its PlayStation 4-exclusive racing game as a service, as well as the launch of the long-delayed PS Plus Edition.
Runcorn-based Evolution is part of Sony's vast Worldwide Studios set up, which includes Killzone maker Guerrilla Games, Uncharted developer Naughty Dog and SingStar creator Sony London Studio.
DriveClub was originally set to launch alongside the PS4 in November 2013, but was delayed a year to 10th October 2014.
Server issues marred the game's launch and set back the release of the PS Plus Edition, but Eurogamer understands it sold well, particularly in Europe, and the studio is not closing down.
Here's Sony's statement:
- Evolution Studios will now focus on DriveClub as a service going forward, in particular, the important launch of the PS Plus Edition. We will be restructuring Evolution Studios to ensure that SCE WWS and in particular, Evolution Studios are in the best position to achieve these goals.
- Our first party development studios are key to our creative strategy and we are very excited about the future projects being worked on and the role Evolution Studios will play.
- We will be looking to relocate team members throughout the studios, but unfortunately some redundancies will be necessary and in those cases we will assist staff in any way we can.
Given the following quote, Evo is done. What's going to happen is there will be a small crew to support DC, but down the road (probably this year), Evo will be done and any leftover employees will assimilate with SCE WWS.
Personally, I think the PS+ Edition is done too. I predicted that if it didn't release before end of 2014, it'll be done for good.
It's now almost April. So far, I'm winning the bet. but can you believe it? It's been almost two years since Sony announced the PS+ edition!
Last edited:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sonys-surprise-3-6-billion-000514700.html
Sony's Surprise $3.6 Billion Share Sale Strains Investor Faith
By Pavel AlpeyevJune 30, 2015 8:05 PM
Sony Corp.’s plan for its first share sale in 26 years is straining investors’ faith in Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai’s ability to deliver on growth promises.
The company plans to raise about 440 billion yen ($3.6 billion) by selling common stock and convertible bonds to help finance an increase in production of image sensors used in smartphones, Sony said Tuesday in a statement. The stock, which has doubled in the past year, dropped the most since September after the announcement.
The fundraising comes as Hirai is midway through a turnaround. He’s improved profit by cutting costs and generating more revenue from image sensors and PlayStation games, rebuilding confidence in a company that cut its earnings outlook 15 times in the past seven years. Still, investors are concerned about the size and timing of the offerings without more proof it can produce growth.
“This company has broken its promises for years, so the market won’t just take them at their word, no matter how promising image sensors may be,” said Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. “They should have waited until there were some positive earnings to show as proof that growth is on track.”
Sony rose 2 percent to 3,531.5 yen as of 9:03 a.m. in Tokyo trading, after dropping 8.3 percent on Tuesday. The planned sales amount to about 10 percent of the company’s market value of about 4.1 trillion yen.
“The shares have likely already priced in the negative impact of this news,” Masahiro Wakasugi, an analyst at BNP Paribas, wrote in a note to clients dated June 30. “We forecast overall dilution from the fundraising will be 9.8 percent at most.” Wakasugi maintained his “reduce” rating on the shares with a price target of 3,100 yen.
The share sale will be to the public in Japan and overseas, the company said. Stock will make up about 321.5 billion yen of the transaction, while convertible bonds account for 120 billion yen.
“We have gone through a restructuring phase and are now entering into an investment stage,” said Yasuhiro Okada, a company spokesman. The proceeds will be used to increase output capacity in the chip business, he said.
Chip Investment
Sony has said it’s quadrupling investment in semiconductors to 290 billion yen this year to tap surging demand for the sensors used in Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. smartphones. Sony expects sales in the image censor business to climb as much as 62 percent to 1.5 trillion yen in the next three years.
Operating profit will reach 500 billion yen in the year ending March 2018, the company has forecast in its mid-term plan. That’s the highest since 520 billion yen in 1998.
Sony’s net cash, or cash minus debt, stood at 1.4 trillion yen as of March 31, compared with 826 billion yen in the previous quarter and 500 billion yen a year earlier.
“The amount they are raising doesn’t correspond to the kind of growth we see in image sensors,” said Yasuaki Kogure, chief investment officer at SBI Asset Management Co. “This is pretty negative, and the share selloff shows a mismatch with market expectations.”
Sony's Surprise $3.6 Billion Share Sale Strains Investor Faith
By Pavel AlpeyevJune 30, 2015 8:05 PM
Sony Corp.’s plan for its first share sale in 26 years is straining investors’ faith in Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai’s ability to deliver on growth promises.
The company plans to raise about 440 billion yen ($3.6 billion) by selling common stock and convertible bonds to help finance an increase in production of image sensors used in smartphones, Sony said Tuesday in a statement. The stock, which has doubled in the past year, dropped the most since September after the announcement.
The fundraising comes as Hirai is midway through a turnaround. He’s improved profit by cutting costs and generating more revenue from image sensors and PlayStation games, rebuilding confidence in a company that cut its earnings outlook 15 times in the past seven years. Still, investors are concerned about the size and timing of the offerings without more proof it can produce growth.
“This company has broken its promises for years, so the market won’t just take them at their word, no matter how promising image sensors may be,” said Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. “They should have waited until there were some positive earnings to show as proof that growth is on track.”
Sony rose 2 percent to 3,531.5 yen as of 9:03 a.m. in Tokyo trading, after dropping 8.3 percent on Tuesday. The planned sales amount to about 10 percent of the company’s market value of about 4.1 trillion yen.
“The shares have likely already priced in the negative impact of this news,” Masahiro Wakasugi, an analyst at BNP Paribas, wrote in a note to clients dated June 30. “We forecast overall dilution from the fundraising will be 9.8 percent at most.” Wakasugi maintained his “reduce” rating on the shares with a price target of 3,100 yen.
The share sale will be to the public in Japan and overseas, the company said. Stock will make up about 321.5 billion yen of the transaction, while convertible bonds account for 120 billion yen.
“We have gone through a restructuring phase and are now entering into an investment stage,” said Yasuhiro Okada, a company spokesman. The proceeds will be used to increase output capacity in the chip business, he said.
Chip Investment
Sony has said it’s quadrupling investment in semiconductors to 290 billion yen this year to tap surging demand for the sensors used in Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. smartphones. Sony expects sales in the image censor business to climb as much as 62 percent to 1.5 trillion yen in the next three years.
Operating profit will reach 500 billion yen in the year ending March 2018, the company has forecast in its mid-term plan. That’s the highest since 520 billion yen in 1998.
Sony’s net cash, or cash minus debt, stood at 1.4 trillion yen as of March 31, compared with 826 billion yen in the previous quarter and 500 billion yen a year earlier.
“The amount they are raising doesn’t correspond to the kind of growth we see in image sensors,” said Yasuaki Kogure, chief investment officer at SBI Asset Management Co. “This is pretty negative, and the share selloff shows a mismatch with market expectations.”
Sony should move on from Driveclub and let Evo make a sequel to a series that fans actually want.