Resident Evil, Devil May Cry Raise Capcom Full Year Sales, Profits

Capcom has announced its financial results for the year ended March 31st, showing sales up 11.5 percent to 83,097 million yen ($805.8 million), with profits up 33.4 percent to 7,807 million yen ($75.7 million). Sales in its console division were up 18 percent to 51,679 million yen ($501.1 million) on strong Western sales of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles for the Wii, at over one million units each, and Devil May Cry 4 for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, at over two million sold. In Japan, Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd G made what Capcom called a "strong start" at nearly one million sold by the end of the reporting period. The company reported that its arcade operations division saw sales up slightly to 13,406 million yen ($129 million), but profits down a sharp 62.5 percent to 753 million yen ($7.3 million) with "sluggish growth under adverse market conditions" including the rise of console popularity and the decline of arcade card game popularity. Sales and profits in its arcade game sales division were both down a respective 18.4 percent to 6,574 million yen ($63.7 million), as "the market was shrinking drastically due to the weakening demand and decrease in purchasing power of arcade operators." Finally, for the coming fiscal year, Capcom says it expects sales to rise an additional 14.7 percent to 95,300 million yen ($924.1 million), which it says will drive the best year in company history.