The consumer electronics giant said net profit in the full year jumped more than seven-fold to 115.5 billion yen (963 million dollars) from a year ago helped by a weaker yen against the euro.

A 66.5 billion yen gain from the sale of a Spanish language television unit boosted pre-tax profit, which rose 166.9 percent to 247.6 billion yen.

But gains were capped by losses from affiliated companies such as Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, a 50-50 joint venture with Ericsson of Sweden.

Sony Corp. also suffered a 1.4 percent slump in sales in the year to March to 7.47 trillion yen due to disappointing performances by its electronics and music arms.

Revenue from the electronics division fell 6.5 percent during the year -- notably declining in the key US and Japanese markets -- hit by slack demand for Aiwa televisions and radios, and Vaio personal computers.

Sony's game business also suffered a drop in sales due to price reductions on its popular PSone and PlayStation2 video consoles. The firm shipped 22.52 million PlayStation2 units over the year -- an increase of 4.5 million.

A rise in digital piracy was taking its toll on the music industry and eating into Sony's revenue.

In the three months to March alone, Sony's net loss widened to 111.1 billion yen from 5.5 billion yen a year earlier, while revenue slumped 12.2 percent to 1.65 trillion yen.

"On a geographic basis, sales decreased significantly in Japan and the US," the firm said in a statement.

Sony announced a plan to spend 1.3 trillion yen in the next three years to March 2007 to overhaul its global business.

Some 500 billion yen would be pumped into developing and producing key devices such as semiconductors and graphic chips, where future rapid growth is expected, said Teruhisa Tokunaka, chief strategic officer.

Another 500 billion yen will strengthen research and development operations, aimed at enhancing conventional product categories, while 300 billion yen will be spent on restructuring charges aimed at boosting efficiency.

For the year to March 2004, Sony forecasts a net profit of 50 billion yen, pre-tax profit of 130 billion yen on revenue of 7.4 trillion yen.

SPACE.WIRE