Sony boss Mr Stringer hopes there are better profits on the horizon

Net profit was 28.5bn yen ($247m; �138m) in the three months ending 30 September, down from 53.2bn last year.

However, group operating profit was a better-than-expected 65.9bn yen, up from 43.4bn a year ago.

Sony is restructuring its business and wants to put distance between itself and rivals such as Sharp and Apple.

Loss-making

Chief executive Howard Stringer announced last month that he was cutting 10,000 jobs, or about 7% of its total workforce.

Sony is the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker, the biggest being Matsushita, but has seen rivals putting pressure on its earnings.

Fierce competition from low-cost producers in countries like China also has put pressure on prices, analysts said.

During the second quarter, Sony said its sales were unchanged at 1.7 trillion yen.

The company reiterated that it would still post a full-year loss of 10bn yen.

Still negative

However, chief financial officer Nobuyuki Oneda said that sales of Sony's new Bravia brand had helped limit losses at its TV division.

"The numbers are still negative, but the loss is a lot less than we had originally thought.

"Bravia and camcorders are doing very well but we are cautious about conditions ahead."

Another negative was the firm's movie unit, which posted a loss after it failed to put out a blockbuster movie like last year's hit "Spiderman 2".