Sony halves annual oper outlook on firmer yen

TOKYO Oct 23 (Reuters) - Sony Corp (6758.T) on Thursday cut its annual operating profit forecast by 57 percent to far below market expectations, battered by a firmer yen and fierce price competition in the LCD TV, digital cameras and camcorder markets.

Sony now expects operating profit to come in at 200 billion yen ($2 billion) in the year ending March, down from its previous estimate of 470 billion yen and compared with a consensus of 381.8 billion yen in a poll of 20 analysts by Reuters Estimates. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka)