OREANDA-NEWS. Sony Corp. said it doubled its profit outlook for the past business year ended in March, aided by a weaker yen, asset sales and a rebounding stock market that helped its life insurance business.

Sony said it now expects a net profit of Y40 billion (USD 400 million) for the past fiscal year versus a February estimate of Y20 billion. It also raised its operating profit outlook to Y230 billion from an earlier Y130 billion, while lifting its sales estimate to Y6.8 trillion from Y6.6 trillion.

The company is slated to announce its official earnings figures for the past fiscal year May 9.

Sony cited a number of reasons for the improved outlook. It aggressively sold assets during its fiscal fourth quarter, including its U.S. headquarters building in New York, a portion of its shares in online medical service provider M3 Inc., and Tokyo office buildings.

Sony said the weak yen was another positive factor. The company had assumed an average foreign exchange rate for the quarter of Y88 to the U.S. dollar and Y115 to the euro. The actual rates turned out to be Y92.4 to the dollar Y121.9 to the euro.

A weaker yen increases the value of overseas revenue when repatriated back into yen while improve the profitability of products made in Japan.