MAM
Sony to spend Rs 1.5 bn on marketing during festive season
MUMBAI: Sony India has set aside Rs 1.5 billion or 33 per cent of its total marketing budget for the festive season as it seeks to achieve a sales turnover of Rs 28.5 billion, an increase of 50 per cent over the previous festive season.
Last year, the Japanese electronics major had spent Rs 1 billion towards advertising and promotion during the festive season to boost sales.
Sony will undertake multi-media campaign for Bravia, Cyber-shot, Xperia Tipo and Handycam. This will include ATL and BTL activities such as print and television commercial, cinema, outdoor, Web and PR activities during the October-November period.
The Japanese electronics major, which is going through a rough patch due to dwindling sales, has launched products cutting across product categories such as Television, Digital Imaging and IT products, during this festive season in the Indian market.
Sony‘s product launch for festive season includes: Bravia KD-84X9000, Personal 3D Viewer HMZ-T2, DSLT a99, DSC-RX100, and Vaio with Touch-screen.
Sony India MD Kenichiro Hibi said, “This festive season with our revolutionary product portfolio and compelling offers, we are confident of achieving 50 per cent increase over our last year’s festive season sales, taking it to Rs. 2850 crores (Rs 28.5 billion) this year.”
The company had earlier ramped up its marketing budget by 25 per cent to Rs 4.5 billion for the current fiscal and had set a target of 30 per cent growth in sales. Its marketing spend in the previous fiscal was Rs 3.6 billion while sales stood at Rs 63.13 billion, up from Rs 54.46 billion in the trailing fiscal.
India, one of the fast growing markets for Sony, currently stands at 6th position in contribution to global sales and plans to gain the fifth position by end of fiscal.
As part of its marketing initiative for the festive season, Sony has also tied-up with Sony Pictures Entertainment for the much awaited James Bond action thriller ‘Skyfall‘ in order to gain a higher mind share during the festive season.
Brands
Domino’s Q1 profit falls 6.6 per cent, announces $1 billion buyback
Sales rise 3.4 per cent as pizza giant balances growth and shareholder returns
NEW YORK: Domino’s reported a mixed start to 2026, with first-quarter net income slipping even as global sales and store expansion held steady. The company also announced a fresh $1 billion share buyback, underlining its continued focus on shareholder returns.
Global retail sales rose 3.4 per cent on a constant-currency basis to $4.74 billion. The US remained a key growth engine, with same-store sales inching up 0.9 per cent, supported by a 1.5 per cent rise at company-owned outlets.
International markets, however, painted a more uneven picture. While Domino’s added 161 net new stores overseas during the quarter, international same-store sales declined 0.4 per cent. Overall revenues still climbed 3.5 per cent to $1.15 billion, driven by higher supply chain revenues and a 2.6 per cent increase in food basket pricing for franchisees.
On the profitability front, net income fell 6.6 per cent to $139.8 million, compared to $149.7 million a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share dropped to $4.13 from $4.33. The decline was largely attributed to a $30 million unfavourable swing in unrealised gains linked to its investment in DPC Dash Ltd.
Despite this, operational performance showed resilience. Income from operations rose 9.6 per cent to $230.4 million, supported in part by a $7.8 million pre-tax gain from the sale of a corporate aircraft.
Domino’s footprint continued to expand, with the company ending the quarter at 22,322 stores across more than 90 markets. In the US, digital orders remained dominant, accounting for over 85 per cent of retail sales in 2025.
The company also maintained its dividend payout, declaring $1.99 per share, payable on 30 June 2026. After repurchasing $75.1 million worth of stock during the quarter, the new authorisation lifts the total available for buybacks to $1.29 billion.
Domino’s chief executive officer Russell Weiner said the company’s scale and store-level economics position it well to capture further market share in 2026, even as competition intensifies.
As Domino’s leans into expansion and capital returns, the latest results show a business managing short-term pressures while keeping its long-term growth strategy firmly in play.
