Sony has appointed Kenichiro Yoshida, the chief financial officer credited for executing the turnaround at the once-struggling Japanese electronics and entertainment group, as its new chief executive.
The promotion of 58-year-old Yoshida, which will take place in April, boosted Sony’s share price by 1.9 percent on Friday as investors cheered the selection of a chief executive who has proven willing to jettison Sony’s previously renowned consumer products to plug losses.
Kazuo Hirai, Sony’s current chief executive, will be handing over the role he has held for six years to become the group’s chairman after spending much of his tenure scaling down Sony that has resulted in the sale of its Vaio PC and battery businesses and decisions to split out as separate businesses its TV and Walkman divisions.
Under his watch, Sony also became a target of a massive cyber attack on its US movie studio in 2014, leading to a revamp of its management team. Thanks to these restructuring efforts, Sony’s fortunes have improved since Hirai took the helm in 2012, replacing Sir Howard Stringer. On Friday, the group confirmed it was heading for its most profitable year on record and raised its operating profit target for the second time in three months.
Source : The Financial Times