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That would be Sony's fourth year of red ink — a daunting starting point for incoming CEO and President Kazuo Hirai, who at 51 will become Sony's youngest chief executive when he takes over in April from Welsh-born Howard Stringer.
"Sony must steer a new course," said Hirai, who leads the core consumer products business, at a packed press conference a day after he was named to the CEO post. "We will need to make many painful decisions and execute them, but I believe these are unavoidable for Sony's future."
On Thursday, Sony predicted a net loss of 220 billion yen ($2.9 billion) for the year through March, much bigger than an earlier forecast of 90 billion yen.
Dow Chemical
NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow Chemical Co. is feeling the impact of the slowing European economy, and seeing some weakness in North America as well.
Dow said Thursday that it posted a loss of 2 cents per share in the fourth quarter as a one-time charge resulted in higher taxes at its Brazilian operations.
Excluding charges, Dow earned 25 cents per share. But that fell short of analysts' expectations.
Price hikes helped revenue increase 2 percent to $14.1 billion. But overall volume was down 3 percent, or flat excluding businesses that Dow has sold off.
Kellogg
Kellogg Co. is showing signs of easing its way out of a two-year slump. The cereal maker reported Thursday that its net income rose 23 percent on revenue gains.
The results beat expectations and Kellogg reiterated its full-year guidance, which sent its shares higher.
Kellogg is one of the nation's largest food makers with products such as Frosted Flakes cereal, Eggo waffles and Keebler cookies. The popularity of such brands has helped the company weather the challenges of the tough economy. But Kellogg has struggled with high ingredient costs, weak consumer spending, a major cereal recall and other issues over the past two fiscal years.
The company reported that it earned $232 million, or 64 cents per share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That's up from $189 million, or 51 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Analysts expected 63 cents per share, according to FactSet.
Royal Dutch Shell
AMSTERDAM (AP) — A marked deterioration in Royal Dutch Shell PLC's refining operations contributed to a modest fall in fourth quarter profits at Europe's biggest oil company.
Over the previous year, Shell said its net profit fell 4.3 percent to $6.50 billion as an advance in the production side of its business was offset by a loss in its refining operations.
Merck
Drugmaker Merck & Co. swung to a fourth-quarter profit because of lower acquisition and restructuring charges and slightly higher sales.
The company forecast little improvement this year, when its top-selling drug, the allergy and asthma drug Singulair, is set to face competition from cheaper generic versions. Merck executives also cited increased pressure for lower drug prices, now in some key emerging markets as well as Europe, and a shift to unfavorable exchange rates as factors that will hurt revenue this year.
That echoed comments of other drugmakers that have reported results in the past two weeks.
Merck, the maker of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil and diabetes blockbusters Januvia and Janumet, said Thursday that net income was $1.51 billion, or 49 cents per share. A year earlier, Merck lost $531 million, or 17 cents a share.
MasterCard
NEW YORK (AP) — MasterCard Inc. on Thursday said it recorded a $495 million charge in its fourth quarter to cover potential losses related to an ongoing lawsuit brought by merchants over the fees they pay on credit card transactions.
Without the charge, MasterCard's earnings topped expectations as shoppers put more purchases on debit and credit cards during the holiday season.
The charge cut deeply into MasterCard's fourth-quarter profit. The company posted net income of $19 million, or 15 cents per share, compared with $415 million, or $3.17 per share, in the 2010 fourth quarter.
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