Sony is preparing to list its financial division in 2025

The Japanese company Sony Corp. plans to list its financial division next year as it looks to focus on entertainment and image sensors, according to Reuters.

Sony, which in 2023 announced it was considering a partial spin-off of its financial division, plans to list Sony Financial Group in October 2025 and retain a stake of less than 20 percent. Thus, Sony is preparing a major capital infusion after cutting its forecasts for its gaming division.

Last week, Sony revised down its revenue estimates after sales of the PlayStation 5 (PS5) in the quarter ending December 2023 came in about a million units short of analysts' estimates of 8.2 millions of consoles. The company also said it now expects to sell 21 million units in the fiscal year ending March 31, down from a previous forecast of 25 million units, according to Bloomberg.

"Looking forward, PS5 will enter the last stage of its life cycle," said Naomi Matsuoka, the company's first vice president, noting: "As such, we will place more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales. Because of this, we expect annual PS5 sales to start declining from next fiscal year."

The Japanese company expects sales of 12.3 trillion yen ($81.7 billion) this fiscal year, down from 12.4 trillion yen it had previously forecast. Sony reported revenue of 3.75 trillion yen and operating profit of 463.3 billion yen for the quarter ended in December, results in line with analysts' estimates.

"The result showed that Sony spent heavily on promotions to sell the PS5 as the division's profitability deteriorated, but the number of units shipped during the quarter was much weaker than expected," said Kazunori Ito, director of research at Morningstar.

Outside its gaming division, Sony must reshape its strategy in India after a planned merger between its local division and media outfit Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. stalled over management disagreements. "Discussions with Zee are not progressing, but we believe that India is a promising market with high potential for long-term growth," said chief operating officer Hiroki Totoki, adding: "If there is anything that can replace the business with Zee, we would like to to actively consider".