Sony posts $107 million loss for 2Q

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Sony, the world's largest maker of audio and video equipment, announced a consolidated net loss of $107 million (13.18 billion yen) for the second quarter on Thursday.

Struck by a weakening global economy, the tech giant also reported a worse than expected operating loss of $27.5 million on revenues of $13.7 billion.

But Sony's game division remains a glimmer of hope for the company, with expectations that the unit will be profitable for the year to next March despite the economic fallout of the September 11 terror attacks.

Grim outlook

On September 28, the firm slashed its operating profit forecast for the full year to next March by more than half to $974 million and announced a series of restructuring moves.

That downward revision reflected the grim outlook for the consumer electronics market that was made worse by the air attacks in Washington D.C. and New York.

Sony on Thursday kept its profit forecasts for the full year to March 2002 intact.

Though the economic slump battered its electronics division, Sony's game unit climbed into the black.

The company sees delays in the launch of rival next-generation game consoles and recent price cuts in Europe as factors likely to bolster sales of its PlayStation 2 game machine.

Sony intends to ship 20 million game consoles this business year.

The earnings announcement came after the market's close. Sony fell 3.43 percent to 4,780 yen Thursday.

Reuters contributed to this report.