Helped by the weaker yen and the money it has raised from asset sales, the Japanese consumer electronics firm now expects to report net income of 40 billion yen compared to its previous forecast of 20 billion yen.
A weaker currency increases the value of Sony's overseas revenues when repatriated back into yen. Sony said it had assumed an average foreign exchange rate of 88 yen to one US dollar for the first three months of this year. But the actual rate had turned out to be 92 yen to one US dollar.
In December last year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office and launched sweeping economic reforms, which have become known as "Abenomics". With the support of the new government, the Bank of Japan said it would inject $1.4 trillion into the monetary system over a two-year period.
Sony also said that its full year earnings would get a boost from recent asset sales. Late last year Sony sold its US headquarters building in New York for more than $1 billion, and the "Sony City Osaki" premises in Tokyo.
