Sony Wants to Delay Earnings Report After Hack

Sony Corporation has requested an extension on its deadline to file third-quarter earnings, citing last year's massive cyber attack.

The electronics giant is hoping to persuade the Financial Services Agency of Japan to move its due date from Feb. 16 to March 31—the last day of the third fiscal quarter.

According to the application, Sony plans to hold press and analyst briefings on Feb. 4 with "updated forecasts" of Sony Pictures Entertainment's (SPE) consolidated figures "based on the information available at that date."

The company doesn't expect much of SPE's critical accounting information to be functional until early February, "due to the amount of destruction and disruption that occurred," Sony said.

After the November attack, the studio shut down part of its Los Angeles office's internal network, in an effort to prevent further damage. That move may actually have saved the company monetary losses, as well.

"While Sony continues to evaluate the impact of the cyber attack on its financial results, it currently believes that such impact is not material," the application document said.

All other departments, The Wall Street Journal said, will report finalized numbers on Feb. 4.

Sony did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.

In late November, Sony Pictures Entertainment fell victim to a cyber attack that led to the massive leak of confidential employee and celebrity data, among other things.

The U.S. was quick to point its finger at North Korea, alleging the hack was mean to stop the holiday launch of The Interview, a movie about an assassination plot against the country's leader, Kim Jong-un.

North Korea denied its role in the attack, but the FBI and President Obama came down hard against the country, confident in its guilt. As it turns out, the U.S. has inside information: The NSA has reportedly had access to North Korean networks since 2010. The government, however, did not pick up on the spear-phishing attacks against Sony until it was too late.

Sony's troubles didn't end there, though: Just before the new year, a group of current and former employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the entertainment company, for allegedly failing to protect its computer systems against hackers.