SONY PLANS A 100 BILLION YEN BUYBACK, ITS FIRST EVER

TOKYO: Sony Corp. is buying back as much as 100 billion yen of its own stock, the electronics maker’s first-ever large scale repurchase.

The shares rose 4.1% in Tokyo on Friday after the company announced the buyback, which starts on Tuesday and will last through March 22.

The repurchase makes up 2.4% of the stock, and comes days after Softbank Group Corp. announced a record 600 billion yen buyback. Sony has been seeking to strength its financial footing under chief executive officer Kenichiro Yoshida, who was promoted from chief financial officer last year. Earlier, Sony reported weaker profits in the Playstation business and cut its annual revenue forecast, triggering the steepest share drop in almost three and a half years. “It seems they were perturbed by the steep stock decline,” said Masahiro Wakasugi, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. “They’re watching the stock price, cash flow is strong and they have the financial resources to carry this out. So it’s a strong message to investors.”