Sony Group Corp. on Wednesday lifted its net profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March to 860 billion yen ($6 billion), up 20 billion yen from an earlier estimate, with the company expecting record sales due to an upbeat outlook for its gaming and finance businesses.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment giant revised upward its sales outlook for fiscal 2023 to 12.2 trillion yen against its April forecast of 11.5 trillion yen.

For the three months through June, Sony Group's net profit declined by 16.7 percent from a year ago to 217.55 billion yen, as its insurance unit experienced a decrease in earnings. Sales grew 32.9 percent to 2.96 trillion yen on an increase in revenues in its music segment.

Elsewhere, the company said it expects that its movie business could fare worse than it initially anticipated, as a major actors' strike in the United States led to changes in the release dates for movies and TV series being delayed.

The company also said it expects a decrease in its unit sales of image sensors for mobiles, which could weigh on its semiconductor business.

Sony Group posted record sales of 11.54 trillion yen in fiscal 2022, helped by robust video game sales and a weaker yen.

Sony started the current fiscal year under new president Hiroki Totoki. The former executive deputy president took the helm at the company on April 1.

==Kyodo

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