Dozens of Sony executives including the firm’s chief are foregoing bonuses this year in an “unprecedented” step to atone for a slump in its embattled electronics unit, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Kazuo Hirai is among 40 top managers who will not get a bonus estimated at several hundred million yen (several million dollars) “due to severe business circumstances, including stagnant performance in the electronics sector”, the spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n
The leading Nikkei business daily said the payout could have totalled 1.0 billion yen ($10 million).<\/p>\n
Last year, seven top Sony executives gave up their bonuses “but the number this time is unprecedented,” she added.<\/p>\n
The decision comes as the maker of PlayStation consoles eyes a profit after four years in the red. But its troubled electronics unit may remain mired in losses despite Hirai’s bid to drag it back to profitability.<\/p>\n
Sony has launched a massive corporate overhaul that includes thousands of job cuts as it unloads a string of assets, including buildings in Manhattan and Tokyo.<\/p>\n
Last week, Sony doubled its annual net profit forecast for the last fiscal year to March, saying it expected to earn 40 billion yen as a weaker yen and the asset sales helped boost its bottom line.<\/p>\n
Sony lost 456.66 billion yen in the fiscal year to March 2012, its fourth year in the red.<\/p>\n
A tumble in the value of the yen in recent months — losing about a fifth against the dollar since November — has helped exporters make their products move competitive.<\/p>\n
Sony reports its full-year results on May 9.<\/p>\n
The firm’s Tokyo-listed shares, which last year fell below 1,000 yen for the first time since the era of the Walkman, closed down 1.85 percent to 1,583 yen on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Japan’s electronics sector, including Sony rivals Panasonic and Sharp, has suffered myriad problems recently including slowing demand in key export markets, fierce competition — especially in the struggling TV division — and strategic mistakes.<\/p>\n
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