TOKYO: Sony said Friday it was asking Japanese regulators for permission to delay the release of its earnings next month after a cyberattack at its Hollywood film unit compromised “a large amount of data “in its systems.

The Japanese firm said its US-based Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) subsidiary will 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.

The Tokyo-based firm, which was due to publish its earnings for the fiscal third quarter on February 4, said the hack attack was unlikely to have a material impact on its financial results.

It now wants to extend the deadline to release its earnings until the end of March.

Sony said it still planned to issue a press release and hold an earnings conference on the originally scheduled date “so as to provide investors, shareholders, analysts, media and other stakeholders with updated forecasts of Sony’s... results”.

Published in Dawn January 24th , 2015

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