Sony takes $1 billion write-down on its movie business

Sony Corp will write down the value of its movie business by nearly 112.1 billion yen ($976 million) in the third quarter, blaming weaker film profits as online streaming services sap demand for movie DVDs.

In a statement on Monday, the Japanese TV-to-gaming group said it had cut its outlook for earnings from DVD, Blu-ray discs and other home entertainment in line with a market decline.

Sony, under Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai, has been slashing costs to end years of losses across its sprawling business, writing down over-optimistic valuations. It said on Monday that the pictures segment overall - including television