Sony tumbles on convertible bonds issue

Shares of Sony Corp tumbled over 10 percent on Thursday, a day after the consumer electronics maker said it will raise 150 billion yen ($1.9 billion) through a sale of convertible bonds to help finance a series of investments.

Sony, beset with falling demand in its core TV business and the growth of rivals like Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co, has invested in an assortment of businesses from medical equipment to cloud gaming after CEO Kazuo Hirai took the helm in April.

On Wednesday, the maker of Vaio laptops and PlayStation game consoles said it will issue the five-year bonds convertible into shares to finance an investment in Olympus Corp, the acquisition of U.S. firm Gaikai Inc, ramping up in CMOS image sensors used in devices like digital cameras and to repay debt.

Sony shares plunged 10.7 percent to 777 yen. If the stock price were to finish the day with such losses, the shares would hit their lowest close since 1980, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.

Worries of dilution are pushing shares down today, said Katsuhide Takahashi, a credit sector specialist at Citigroup in Tokyo.

If all the convertible bonds were exchanged for Sony shares, it would lead to a dilution of existing share holdings by as much as 15.6 percent.

In a way, the fact that Sony can issue corporate bonds and access the market is positive, in comparison to its peers that can't even do that like Sharp. From an equity perspective, there are worries of dilution but on a credit front this is positive, Takahashi said.

Rival Sharp Corp, has effectively been shunned by the debt capital markets because of its massive losses and falling market share, forcing it to turn to its banks for a bailout in September and consider capital tie-ups.

... contd.

ALSO READ

'Stewardess' Richard Branson fired by AirAsia chief Tony Fernandez

US working with India to streamline education visa process

FTSE hits new multi-year highs as BT leads defensives

Wall Street ends up, posts third week of gains