Sony says no plans to buy back shares

Japanese electronics conglomerate Sony Corp. has no plans at present to buy back its shares, the company's chief financial officer said, deflating investor hopes for a share price boost.

Helped by strong demand for Cyber-shot digital cameras and narrowing losses at its PlayStation videogame operations, Sony's cash and cash equivalent was €6.4 billion as of March 31, raising expectations for higher dividends and share buy backs.

"At this point we have no plans," to buy back shares, Nobuyuki Oneda told the company's annual shareholders' meeting.

"But there is no change to our policy to be flexible (on share buy backs) while taking into consideration business conditions," he added.

On dividends, Sony said last month that it plans to double its annual dividend payout to 50 yen per share in the current business year to March 2009, but that did not stop investors at Friday's shareholders' meeting from asking for more.

"At Matsushita or Sharp, dividend payout ratios are like 30 percent while yours is 17. What on earth is this difference?" one shareholder asked chief executive officer Howard Stringer and other members of Sony management.

Sony competes with Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd, Sharp Corp and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in the flat television market.

The maker of Bravia LCD TVs and Vaio personal computers said it is focusing on stable dividend payouts and cited uncertainty in the global economy as a reason to be prudent in how to use its cash piles.

"The financial markets are very volatile now. We do need to be cautious with our balance sheet," Mr Stringer said. "We operate in the global economy and the waters out there are very rough. Our ship is doing well compared to our peers. But these are difficult times. We have to be careful."