Sony Pictures Entertainment has tapped Bain & Co. to help find ways to save $100 million in annual costs, which will likely include layoffs. Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai plans to reveal the news at Thursday’s investor meeting.
Sony continues to be under pressure from Daniel Loeb, CEO of hedge fund Third Point, to cut expenses, increase profits and split off the entertainment division. Third Point owns 6.5% of Sony. Hirai is likely looking to lower costs after reporting a $179 million Q2 loss. Moody’s shortly thereafter warned that Sony’s debt rating could be cut to junk status. After box-office flops “After Earth” and “White House Down,” the film studio is reviewing changes to how movies are selected, Loeb said last week at an investor conference in New York.
Sony ranks fourth in domestic box-office sales this year, with revenue of $1.13 billion, said a Bloomberg story. That’s down 32% from YTD 2012. Sony’s film studios include Columbia Pictures and Screen Gems. Sony Pictures Television produces “Breaking Bad” and “Masters of Sex,” and owns 65 cable, VOD and online channels worldwide.
White House Down was a good movie!! I watched it two or three times!
Poor SONY company hiring Bain. They have no idea what’s in store for them bringing in a consulting group that just makes sweeping changes to make them look good in the short-term but leaves you with a shell of a company in the end. Good for the short-term solution yet devastating for Sony in the long run. Consulting companies are ruining corporate America.
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