f-h OP BW & Friends-TTT, Donnerstag 23.10.2003

Electronics maker and entertainment company Sony Corp reported a 25 percent drop in quarterly profit on Thursday, hurt by slack sales of its PlayStation 2 game console and slumping demand for its audiovisual products.
Sony also had a poor performance in its movie and music divisions, while demand for its mainstay electronics goods remained weak.
It cut its full-year operating profit forecast by 23 percent to 100 billion yen, while maintaining its net profit estimate of 50 billion yen.
Sony's results were overshadowed by an impending announcement of a $2.5 billion overhaul of its electronics business, which suffered a 6.5 percent sales drop in the year ended March 31.
The fall in quarterly profit and downbeat forecast stand in stark contrast to improving results elsewhere in Asia's consumer electronics sector, including a better-than-expected 6.6 percent rise in third-quarter profit at Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Japanese rivals Matsushita Electric Industrial -- maker of the Panasonic brand -- and Sharp Corp are expected to announce a rise in profit when they report next week. And South Korea's LG Electronics reported a 93 jump in quarterly profit earlier on Thursday.
Sony said group net profit totaled 32.93 billion yen ($302.2 million) for the three months to September 30, versus a net profit of 44.05 billion yen in the same period a year earlier. Revenues rose to 1.80 trillion yen from 1.79 trillion a year ago.
The company's profits were above an average estimate from five analysts of a net income of 12.68 billion yen.
On an operating basis, quarterly profit fell 34 percent to 33.21 billion yen and pre-tax profits fell 10 percent to 44.06 billion yen.