Pro Evolution Drives Konami Sales, Profit Rise In Third Quarter

Konami has announced total corporate sales up slightly to $902.1 million and profits up 22.7 percent to $109 million in its third quarter, as Winning Eleven and its Pawapuro baseball franchise pushes game division sales up to $1.33 billion in its first nine months. Game division sales were up nine percent over the same nine month period in 2006, ending December 31st. Total corporate sales over those nine months rose 8.1 percent to $2.16 billion, as profits rose 22.8 percent to $168.3 million. Konami said an "increasingly active" software market a year into the Wii and PlayStation 3's life cycle contributed to the rise in sales, especially its soccer titles, calling out the European release of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (otherwise known as Winning Eleven) as particularly successful. The company also said its Pawapuro franchise, including recent releases such as Jikkyou Pawafuru Major League 2, Jikkyou Pawafuru Puroyakyu 14 and the handheld Pawapurokun Pocket 10, was a strong contributor to sales, as well as the continued success of Dance Dance Revolution in North America.