Sony Corp's operating profit likely jumped more than fivefold to 380 billion yen on strong sales of digital cameras in the year just ended, but it missed the company's forecast by 30 billion yen, the Nikkei business daily reported.
That would also be below a consensus estimate of 393.6 billion yen in a poll of 17 analysts by Reuters Estimates.
Sony's videogame division saw its operating loss shrink by about 100 billion yen in the year ended March 2008, helping boost overall profitability, the Nikkei said.
The game unit posted an operating loss of 232 billion yen in the year ended March 2007 due to hefty start-up costs for its PlayStation 3 game console.