Sony announced its consolidated financial results for its fiscal year today, reporting a record annual loss of 457 billion yen ($5.7 billion). The company's final quarter of the year saw it report a loss of 255 billion yen ($3.2 billion), a fifth straight quarterly net loss. Sony had previously estimated it would record a $6.4 billion loss for the 2011 financial year, based on a large tax charge (about $3.6b) that the company had to pay in the US.
Sony cites "unfavourable" foreign exchange rates, the impact of a Japanese earthquake and the floods in Thailand as reasons for its decreased year-on-year consolidated sales, but the company is hopeful for 2012 — predicting a profit amid restructuring. Sony plans to return to profitability with a consolidated income that should be ¥180 billion ($2.2b) in the black for 2012.