Restructuring costs weigh on Sony

Article Excerpt

SONY CORP. ADRs $16 (New York symbol SNE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $16.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.sony.com) has brought in a new restructuring plan that involves selling its money-losing Vaio personal computer business and cutting 3% of its workforce. The company also plans to set up its struggling TV operations as a separate firm, which would make it easier to sell a minority stake in this business. However, slow sales have forced Sony to write down its remaining computer inventories. Weaker DVD demand has also prompted it to write down the value of its disc-manufacturing operations. As a result, Sony lost $1.25 billion, or $1.21 per ADR, in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 (each American Depositary Receipt represents one common share). In 2013, it earned $458 million, or $0.43 per ADR. Revenue rose 4.2%, to $75.4 billion from $72.3 billion, on stronger smartphone sales…