Sony warns of $3.2bn loss after earthquake and PSN hack

Sony has been forced to re-evaluate its earnings predictions for the 2010-2011 fiscal year from a profit to a loss.

Sony has forecast a loss of $3.2bn after being hit by hack on the PlayStation Network and the Japanese earthquake. Credit: Erica Ogg

According to Sony's fiscal 2010 year forecast revision announcement on Monday, it has predicted a net loss of $3.2bn (£2bn), reversing expectations of a $858m profit.

The company was hit by the hack on the PlayStation Network, which took the service offline for several weeks. While that incident was definitely a contributing factor, it is only expected to account for $171.2m in losses. Sony is attributing at least $269m in losses to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March.

The company said the drop in predicted income is due to it taking a non-cash charge of 360bn Yen (£2.7bn) against certain deferred tax assets in Japan. This charge was the cause of the predicted 330bn Yen drop in income for the year, it said.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Sony predicts $3.2 billion loss following PSN hacking, Japan earthquake on ZDNet.com.