Sony delays release of quarterly figures due to cyber attack

Sony is delaying the release of its final quarterly earnings, citing the disruption of accounting systems last year during a crippling cyber attack on the company's film studio.

The attack, which US officials have blamed on North Korean hackers angered over the Seth Rogen spy-caper comedy The Interview, left the company unable to produce a full third-quarter report by the expected February 16th deadline, Sony said.

The company instead sought permission to file its final earnings statement March 31st, the last day of the fiscal year.

Sony still plans to update investors, analysts and the media on earnings and outlook "to the extent reasonably possible" for other units - including smartphones and TVs --while completing the accounting for Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Critical financial and accounting applications at Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. weren’t expected to be functional until early next month.

The February 4th report would include October data for Sony Pictures and forecasts for November and December, a company spokesman said.

Chief executive Kazuo Hirai said earlier this month he believes the studio would emerge stronger after the cyber attack, which exposed Hollywood secrets and led the company to initially cancel the release of The Interview."

The studio expects to recoup the $60 million it spent on the film after a limited release online and in some theatres.

The FBI said North Korea was behind the attack, which rendered thousands of computers inoperable and forced Sony Pictures to take its entire network offline.

The total costs relating to the hack may be around 20 billion yen ($169 million), Sony shares closed 4.8 per cent higher at 2,737 yen in Tokyo.

Bloomberg