Sony Corp. reported on Wednesday that second-quarter profit fell 72 percent, as growing worries about the global economy sent the yen higher and hit camera sales.Net income declined to ¥20.8 billion, or $215 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, from ¥73.7 billion, the company said in a statement. Sales fell 0.5 percent to ¥2.07 trillion.

Operating profit at Sony, which competes with Canon in digital cameras and with Samsung Electronics in LCD TVs, dropped 90 percent to ¥11.05 billion from ¥111.62 billion a year earlier.

The steep profit slide was expected after the electronics and entertainment conglomerate cut its annual operating profit forecast by 57 percent on Oct. 23, citing the yen's strength and weaker demand for digital cameras.A strong yen makes Japanese goods more expensive in export markets and eats into overseas profits when repatriated.

For the full business year ending in March, Sony reaffirmed an operating profit forecast it issued of ¥200 billion, down from ¥475.3 billion last year and compared with a consensus of a ¥158.2 billion yen profit in a poll of 15 analysts by Reuters Estimates.