Sony pins hopes for profit on PlayStation 4, sets February launch in Japan

1 of 2. Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia President Hiroshi Kawano poses with the company's PlayStation 4 during a photo session after a news conference in Tokyo September 9, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Toru Hanai

By Sophie Knight

TOKYO | Mon Sep 9, 2013 6:47am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp announced the Japanese release of its PlayStation 4 on Monday as the electronics maker braces for a console war with Microsoft Corp that could make or break the Japanese firm's struggle to return to profit.

Sony said it will launch the PS4 on February 22 in Japan, three months later than its November 15 release in the United States. The basic version of the PS4 will retail for 39,980 yen ($400), in line with its North American $399 price tag. That compares with $499 for Microsoft's Xbox One, which will be rolled out on November 22.

With the PS4, Sony is hoping its gaming division - one of its key businesses along with its mobile and imaging segments - will power a return to profit after the company rejected a proposal from activist shareholder Daniel Loeb to spin off its lucrative entertainment business.

To hit its numbers, Sony must ensure that the PS4 triumphs in the battle against Microsoft's XBox One, as well fighting off competition from Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii U.

The gaming market has changed drastically since the 2006 release of Sony's last console, the PS3, as casual players have switched to online and free-to-play Internet and smartphone games such as Rovio's "Angry Birds" and Midasplayer's "Candy Crush Saga".

But the consumer shift to smartphones and tablets over PCs could actually support demand for videogame consoles, says Damian Thong, analyst at Macquarie Capital in Tokyo.

"The key market here is core games. I would argue the main competition for the PS4 is not casual gaming, it's the PC...the good news is that people aren't buying PCs anymore and they're buying tablets, so they're likely to buy a games console," he said.

Such optimism is backed by research from consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) suggesting that the global market for videogames will recover to $86.9 billion in 2017 from $63.4 billion in 2012, with consumer spending on console games increasing to $31.2 billion in 2017 from $24.9 billion in 2012.

Sony said in August that it had received 1 million preorders for the new console, which will be on sale from November 15 in North America and in other regions including Europe, Australia and South America from November 29, in time for the busy pre-Christmas season.

Sony posted an operating profit of 36.36 billion yen ($367.6 million) for the April-to-June quarter, beating market expectations, but leaving it with some way to go to meet its full-year guidance of 230 billion yen.

($1 = 98.9250 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Sophie Knight; Editing by Matt Driskill)

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BG 1Q Profit Down on Lower Production

LONDON - BG Group PLC said Thursday its first-quarter net profit was down 0.8% on lower production and increased costs in exploration and production, but said it had delivered three key milestones on projects in Brazil and the U.K. 

The company, which last year surprised the market by downgrading its production targets, said it was on track to meet its project milestones for this year. 

The U.K.'s third-largest oil and natural gas company by market value said net profit for the three months ended March 31 totaled $1.21 billion, compared with $1.22 billion for the first quarter of 2012. 

"We have made a good start to the year, delivering the three key milestones for the first quarter, whilst also making progress with our project execution program for the year," said Chief Executive Chris Finlayson. 

Excluding gains or losses from one-off items, such as asset sales, the company's profit was $1.18 billion, down 3.4% from $1.23 billion in the same period a year earlier. This was 6.1% above average expectations of $1.12 billion in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of six analysts. 

Total oil and gas production was 659,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, a 1.5% fall from the same period a year ago, but slightly above analysts' expectations of 648,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. 

Revenue for the quarter was up 0.6% to $4.91 billion from $4.88 billion a year ago. 

Diluted earnings per share were 35.3 cents compared with 34.2 cents the previous year.

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Shell boss to retire on profit high

The company revealed Voser’s plans to retire in the first half of next year, after almost five years in the top job, as financial results released on Thursday beat expectations.

Shell posted a 3% rise in adjusted net profit (on a current cost of supplies basis and excluding one-time items) to $7.5 billion, from $7.3 billion a year ago. This result surpassed analysts’ average estimate of $6.4 billion, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Voser said the results were “underpinned by Shell's growth projects, an improvement in downstream profitability, and were delivered despite a difficult security environment in Nigeria.”

In its upstream sector, Shell recorded earnings, excluding identified items, of $5.65 billion compared with $6.27 billion for the same period last year. These identified items were a net gain of $173 million compared with a net gain of $453 million for the 2012 first quarter.

The company attributed this upstream result to the ramp-up of the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar, increased trading contributions, and higher gas realisations and tax credits being more than offset by lower liquids realisations, higher depreciation, increased operating and exploration expenses and lower earnings from liquefied natural gas ventures.

First-quarter output was on par with last year at 3.56 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. Although excluding the impact of divestments, production sharing contract price effects and security impacts in Nigeria, total production was actually 2% higher this year.

Liquids production fell 2% while natural gas output rose by 3%, with the continued ramp-up of fields including Pearl GTL, Eagle Ford in the US and Pluto LNG in Australia offsetting the impact of field declines.

Equity LNG sales volumes of 5.15 million tonnes were in line with the 2012 first quarter, with Pluto LNG’s contribution being counterbalanced by frequent bunkering causing supply disruptions onshore Nigeria.

Shell said it was now planning to conduct a “structured and comprehensive review of internal and external candidates” to select a new chief executive.

An executive director since 2004 with a brief stint in the group chief financial officer role, Voser replaced the retired chief Jeroen van der Veer in July 2009.

“Peter's leadership of Shell over the last four years has been impressive, reorganising the company, delivering growth, and developing a clear forward strategy with a strong portfolio of new options,” Shell chairman Jorma Ollila said in a statement.

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Shell boss to retire on profit high

The company revealed Voser’s plans to retire in the first half of next year, after almost five years in the top job, as financial results released on Thursday beat expectations.

Shell posted a 3% rise in adjusted net profit (on a current cost of supplies basis and excluding one-time items) to $7.5 billion, from $7.3 billion a year ago. This result surpassed analysts’ average estimate of $6.4 billion, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Voser said the results were “underpinned by Shell's growth projects, an improvement in downstream profitability, and were delivered despite a difficult security environment in Nigeria.”

In its upstream sector, Shell recorded earnings, excluding identified items, of $5.65 billion compared with $6.27 billion for the same period last year. These identified items were a net gain of $173 million compared with a net gain of $453 million for the 2012 first quarter.

The company attributed this upstream result to the ramp-up of the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar, increased trading contributions, and higher gas realisations and tax credits being more than offset by lower liquids realisations, higher depreciation, increased operating and exploration expenses and lower earnings from liquefied natural gas ventures.

First-quarter output was on par with last year at 3.56 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. Although excluding the impact of divestments, production sharing contract price effects and security impacts in Nigeria, total production was actually 2% higher this year.

Liquids production fell 2% while natural gas output rose by 3%, with the continued ramp-up of fields including Pearl GTL, Eagle Ford in the US and Pluto LNG in Australia offsetting the impact of field declines.

Equity LNG sales volumes of 5.15 million tonnes were in line with the 2012 first quarter, with Pluto LNG’s contribution being counterbalanced by frequent bunkering causing supply disruptions onshore Nigeria.

Shell said it was now planning to conduct a “structured and comprehensive review of internal and external candidates” to select a new chief executive.

An executive director since 2004 with a brief stint in the group chief financial officer role, Voser replaced the retired chief Jeroen van der Veer in July 2009.

“Peter's leadership of Shell over the last four years has been impressive, reorganising the company, delivering growth, and developing a clear forward strategy with a strong portfolio of new options,” Shell chairman Jorma Ollila said in a statement.

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BG 1Q Profit Down on Lower Production

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$420k profit on Isle of Capri mansion

Lucy Ardern   |  12:01am March 5, 2013

A local financial planner has sold this Isle of Capri beauty for a $420,000 profit. Pic: Supplied

A LUXURY Isle of Capri home has fetched $3.02 million, or $420,000 more than the owners paid receivers for the property when they bought it 12 months earlier.

The property at 95 Gibraltar Drive is the former home of Gold Coast builder Michael Kljaic and was held under the name of his wife, Natasa.

Receivers sold it out from under the couple in February 2012 to local financial planner Howard Hughes for $2.6 million.

Now Mr Hughes has secured $3.02 million for the house that he and his wife bought and then renovated after a successful campaign by Ray White Broadbeach prestige agents Sam Guo and Julia Kuo.

The four-storey home, which boasts both views of the water and Surfers Paradise, has an internal lift, eight-car basement, gym and 23m lap pool.

Mr Guo said a Victorian buyer, moving to the Gold Coast had purchased the home after it was passed in at auction last month.

Mr Kljaic managed the MKM Group, which collapsed in 2011, and has been permanently excluded from holding a building licence by the Building Services Authority.

The Kljaics spent up big on the Isle of Capri home after buying the waterfront block for $1.5 million in March 2005 and bulldozing the original house.

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