Sony given permission to delay earnings after ‘The Interview’ cyberattack

Sony said Tuesday it has won permission to delay the release of its quarterly earnings report, after a cyberattack damaged the computer network at its Hollywood film unit. The Japanese firm said last week that it was asking for the delay because subsidiary Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) would not have time to put together its financial statements after the attack, linked to its controversial North Korea satire “The Interview,” which has been widely blamed on Pyongyang. Japanese regulators have now given a green light to the request, Sony said Tuesday.

Sony currently expects that it can submit the quarterly securities report for the third quarter by March 31, 2015, the approved extended deadline for submission.

Statement issued by Sony

Tokyo-based Sony, which was originally due to publish its earnings for the fiscal third quarter on February 4, has said it would still issue a press release and hold an earnings conference on the scheduled date to discuss its results to the “extent reasonably possible”. Although the cyberattack caused “a serious disruption of SPE’s network systems”, it added it was unlikely to have a material impact on its financial results. Washington has blamed North Korea for the hack on Sony – a claim Pyongyang has denied.

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