Sony Corp. said Friday its group operating profit in fiscal 2017 rose to a record-high 734.86 billion yen ($6.7 billion) on strong semiconductor business.

But the Japanese technology and entertainment group forecast operating profit will decline 8.8 percent to 670 billion yen in the current fiscal year through next March on a slowdown in the business, including image sensors supplied to Apple Inc. and other smartphone makers, as well as a stronger yen.

"We are very happy about clearing our target for group operating profit but we want to focus on making profits stably. We have never continuously surpassed 500 billion yen," Sony's new Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said in reference to the target it set under a business plan for a three-year period ended last month.

In fiscal 2017, the group's operating profit expanded 2.5-fold from the previous year, topping the previous record of 525.72 billion yen marked in fiscal 1997. Net profit grew more than six times to 490.79 trillion yen, setting a new record for the first time in 10 years, on sale of 8.54 trillion yen, up 12.4 percent

The semiconductor business, a main driver of Sony's turnaround, marked an operating profit of 164 billion yen, reversing the previous year's loss of 7.8 billion yen.

"While demand for image sensors is expected to decelerate in the short term due to the saturation of the smartphone market, in the medium- to long-term image sensors are set to see growth in other areas such as for surveillance purposes or mounting on cars," Totoki said.

(Sony headquater in Tokyo)

The music and game businesses also contributed to the robust earnings, helped by strong sales of Sony's flagship PlayStation 4 console and software as well as by hit movies including "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle."

For fiscal 2018, Sony projected net profit will fall 2.2 percent to 480 billion yen on sales of 8.3 trillion yen, down 2.9 percent, with an expected appreciation of the yen eroding the value of overseas profits when repatriated.

Sony now expects the U.S. dollar to trade around 105 yen in the business year, compared with the average rate of 110.9 yen in fiscal 2017.