“Sony Corp. shares dropped the most in four years after reporting an eighth consecutive quarter of losses, an unpleasant surprise for investors who borrowed money to buy the stock on bets the weaker yen would help turn around Japan’s biggest exporter of consumer electronics.
A 59 percent jump this year by the maker of PlayStation game consoles helped drive the number of the shares being held in margin accounts to a 13-year high, according to datacompiled by Bloomberg. The accounts held 5.48 million shares as of yesterday, the most since March 2000, the data show.
Sony shares slumped 10 percent to close at 1,365 yen, the biggest decline since November 2008. The company’s 150 billion yen ($1.6 billion) of convertible bonds due in 2017 fell the most since November, sliding 8.8 percent to 147 yen per 100 yen in face value, according to Nomura Holdings Inc.
“Speculators who have been rushing to buy Sony on expectation that the weakening yen will turn the earnings around must be disappointed,” said Mitsushige Akino, Tokyo-based chief fund officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co., which oversees about $356 million. “They will close their positions to take profits or minimize losses.”
Sony rebounded 92 percent through yesterday from a 32-year low on Nov. 15. Japan’s exporters have rallied on speculation earnings will improve on the weaker yen, said Amir Anvarzadeh, a Singapore-based manager for Asia equity sales at BGC Partners Inc.
