Sega Sammy Posts 52 Percent Profit Increase For Half

Following the recent release of the company's shareholder's report, officials from Sega Sammy Holdings have confirmed a 52 percent increase in profits for the fiscal six months from April through September, as compared to the same period a year ago. For the period, Sega Sammy reported profit of ¥38 billion ($323 million), as opposed to the ¥24.95 billion ($213 million) reported during the same period a year ago. Revenue climbed roughly 14 percent to ¥284 billion ($2.4 billion) for the period, an increase noted by the company to be driven by its slot machine and arcade businesses, with its top arcade title being Virtua Fighter 5. Looking at the video game software business, the company sold 5.75 million units during the six month period, far surpassing the previous year's period total of 1.27 million. Of these, 1.76 million units were sold in Japan, 1.59 were sold in Europe, and 2.36 million were sold in the United States, with 30,000 sold in other regions. According to a statement released by Sega Sammy, the strongest selling titles over the period in Japan were Jissen Pachislot Hishouhou! Hokuto No Ken SE, Kamaitachi No Yoru x 3 Mikazukijima Jiken No Shinso, which saw cumulative sales of 1.7 million copies, as well as Phantasy Star Universe for the Xbox 360. Outside of Japan, Super Monkey Ball Adventure for the Nintendo DS and Football Manager 2006 for the Xbox 360 proved to be the company's strongest offerings. However, despite this positive news, the company still opted to cut its forecasts by 20 percent for the fiscal year ending in March 2007 due to expected issues with its pachinko and slot machine businesses, as well as “aggressive corporate restructuring and business expansion measures” in order for the company to take advantage of overseas markets. For the fiscal year, Sega Sammy now expects to report profit of ¥60 billion ($510.5 million), down from its earlier forecast of ¥75 billion ($638.2 million). Revenue is anticipated to now be ¥580 billion ($4.9 billion) for the fiscal year.