Sony raises profit forecast on stronger games performance

By Sam Nussey

TOKYO (Reuters) -Sony raised on Thursday its operating profit forecast for the year ending in March by 2% to 1.34 trillion yen ($8.70 billion), citing the strength of its gaming business.

Once best known for consumer electronics such as the Walkman, Sony's business spans games, movies, music and image sensors.

Operating profit in the third quarter was 469.3 billion yen, up 1% on the same period a year earlier and beating analysts' estimates of 404 billion, helped by growth in games and music.

President Hiroki Totoki is strengthening his grip over the tech and entertainment conglomerate, taking the CEO role from April 1.

Quarterly profit at Sony's games unit grew 37%, driven by higher sales and reduced losses from hardware.

Sony sold 9.5 million PlayStation 5 units during the quarter, compared to 8.2 million units a year earlier.

The music unit's profitability was also boosted by higher revenues from streaming services.

($1 = 153.9700 yen)

(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Kim Coghill and Muralikumar Anantharaman)