Sega Sammy Half-Year Profits Up 52%

November 11th, 2006, 15:00 Posted By: JKKDARK

Source next-gen.biz

For the first six months of Sega Sammy's fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, the company reported net income of 38 billion yen ($323.2 million) compared to 25 billion yen ($212.6 million) for the same period a year ago.

Net sales were 283.6 billion yen ($2.4 billion), up 14 percent from 248.6 billion yen ($2.1 billion) year-over-year.

Figures were driven by solid sales of the "Hokuto No Ken SE" pachislot machine, and other strong sales within the amusement machine business. Although the segment was successful during the first half, Sega Sammy expressed caution about the future of the business, as the number of pachinko and pachislot players is in decline. The company said that it's "imperative" to find a way to appeal to new users.

As for home videogame software, Sega Sammy said that the industry is expected to continue to rebound on the back of handheld and next generation software sales, but increased R&D expenses for advanced new consoles are likely to have an impact on the developer's bottom line in the future.

Software sales were way up for the six-month period, as the company sold 5.8 million units versus the comparable period's 1.3 million copies. The U.S. led software sales by region with 2.4 million, followed by Japan with 1.8 million, Europe with 1.6 million and 30,000 for other regions. Outside of Japan, Super Monkey Ball Adventure was noted as a strong seller and Phantasy Star Universe exhibited solid Japanese sales. The company is aiming to sell 21.9 million units by the end of its fiscal year.

Sega Sammy also said that Virtua Fighter 5 was a "strong-seller" for its arcade business.

Despite an impressive first half, the company cut its full-year net profit forecast to 60 billion yen ($510 million) from its previous guidance of 75 billion yen ($637.8 million). Group sales expectations for the year were reduced to 580 billion yen ($4.9 billion) from 682 billion yen ($5.8 billion). The reductions come as Sega Sammy attempts to strengthen its pachinko machine business, with results that aren't expected to come about until the next fiscal year.

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