Sony shares rise 10 pct after strong profit forecast

TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) - Shares of Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) opened 10 percent higher on Thursday after it forecast a bigger-than-expected operating profit this financial year as it aims to boost flat TV sales and wipe away losses on the PlayStation 3.

Sony's stock first traded at 5,350 yen, up 10.3 percent. It was up 9.5 percent at 5,310 yen as of 0032 GMT, compared with the benchmark Nikkei average's .N225 0.9 percent gain.

Sony said on Wednesday that it suffered an operating loss of 4.7 billion yen in January-March as the weak stock market ate into the value of securities held by its finance arm. The result fell short of an average estimate of a 27.3 billion yen profit from five analysts surveyed by Reuters.[ID:nT213666]

But Sony said it expected operating profit to grow 20 percent to 450 billion yen in the year to March 2009, beating the market consensus of 428.5 billion yen. The upbeat outlook comes despite hurdles such as a slowing U.S. economy and a stronger yen.

After the earnings announcement, Nomura Securities lifted its rating on Sony to "strong buy" from "buy".

Sony, locked in a three-way battle with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in the game industry, has been able to narrow losses on the PlayStation 3 game console by cutting manufacturing costs and expanding sales.

The electronics and entertainment conglomerate has also enjoyed strong sales of Cyber-shot digital cameras, VAIO PCs and Handycam camcorders, helping push its operating profit up more than five-fold in the full year that ended on March 31. (Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Hugh Lawson)