By Sam Nussey

TOKYO (Reuters) -Sony Group Corp on Thursday said it is examining a partial spin off of its financial business to take place within the next two to three years, as the conglomerate doubles down on its entertainment and image sensor businesses.

Sony said at a strategy briefing it is looking at listing Sony Financial Group, whose operations include life insurance and banking, and retaining a stake of slightly less than 20%.

The announcement comes just three years after Sony took full control of the business in a $3.7 billion transaction.

The entertainment and technology conglomerate is working to drive synergies between its business lines, which include games, music and movies. It said hit drama "The Last of Us" on HBO drove uptake of the game franchise on which it is based and music used in the show.

The financial unit reported a 5% decline in revenue to 1.45 trillion yen ($10.74 billion) in the year ended March. Operating profit rose 49% to 223.9 billion yen following one-off gains from a real estate sale.

A partial spin-off would allow the newly listed business to retain the Sony branding.

PLAYSTATION RAMP UP

Sony has said it expects to sell 25 million PlayStation 5 consoles this financial year after the easing of supply chain snarls that have constrained sales.

That would be a record for any PlayStation device.

However the company also forecasts a slide in first-party software sales, reflecting weakness in the games pipeline.

Sony shares were up 6% in Tokyo morning trade, a day after the group announced a buyback of up to 2.03% of its shares.

($1 = 135.0500 yen)

(Reporting by Sam Nussey and Mariko Katsumura; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christopher Cushing)