Sony sales, earnings bounce back

From CNET News.com: Thanks to intensive cost cuts, and buoyed by sales of Vaio PCs and PlayStation 3 game consoles, Sony's quarterly results are back in the black.

After four straight quarterly losses, the company rebounded in the third quarter of its fiscal 2009. Net income jumped 660 percent to 79.2 billion yen ($871 million), compared with 10.4 billion yen in 2008's third quarter, Sony reported Thursday.

Sales for the quarter ended December 31 rose 3.9 percent to 2.24 trillion yen ($24.6 billion) versus 2.15 trillion yen in the year-ago quarter.

Stung by weak consumer demand and strong competition, Sony had been forced to slash expenses over the past year. The company has closed down factories and laid off a huge number of workers in an attempt to return to profitability, a strategy that is now starting to pay off.

But stronger operating results in virtually all of Sony's businesses also boosted third-quarter results.

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