Sony hikes annual profit outlook to record after second-quarter profit jump

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp on Tuesday reported a 17 percent increase in second-quarter operating profit thanks to a strong performance from its gaming business and lifted its full-year earnings outlook to a record level.

Operating income for the Japanese entertainment and electronics firm came in at 239.5 billion yen ($2.1 billion) for the July-September quarter, above the 204.2 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

Expectations for a strong result climbed after the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday that Sony would log record first-half operating profit for a second year in a row.

Sony raised its annual profit forecast to 870 billion yen from an earlier estimate of 670 billion yen. That compares with a consensus of 796.4 billion yen from 25 analysts, according to data from Refinitiv.

($1 = 112.6400 yen)

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)