Sales Up 9%, Profits More Than Double At Sega Sammy

Sales and profits at video game publisher and pachinko company Sega Sammy were up for the nine months ended December 31, but home video game sales were still "sluggish," the company said Friday. The Tokyo-based Sonic the Hedgehog maker reported sales of ¥310.1 billion ($3.78 billion), up 9 percent year-on-year. Profits were up 117 percent to ¥36.8 billion ($448.9 million). Despite the gains, the company said home video games sales were slow in Western markets. "The demand was generally weak in the U.S. and European markets due to the headwind like sluggish personal consumption," said the company, which also cited a rising yen and "decelerating" Western economies. "The Group needs to adapt to changing business environment in which the market demand for new content geared to social networking service (SNS), smartphone is expanding," Sega Sammy added. The company's consumer business segment, which houses home video games and toys, reported sales of ¥67.4 billion ($822.2 million) for the nine months, a decrease of 19 percent year-on-year. Profits were up 98 percent to ¥2.8 billion ($34 million). The publisher's biggest releases during the period included Sonic Colors (1.85 million shipped), Vanquish (820,000 shipped) and Football Manager 2011 (690,000 shipped), along with Japanese title Shining Hearts. "Sales of the new titles remained slow as affected by the adverse market condition, although sales remained solid in the Japanese market," the company said. During the nine months, Sega Sammy sold a total of 13.6 million software units. The company's pachislot and pachinko machine segment saw the highest sales, with ¥168.1 billion ($2.1 billion) for the period, up 34 percent. Profits were up 103 percent to ¥54.7 billion ($667.2 million). Amusement machine sales, which includes arcade games, were down 17 percent to ¥34.6 billion ($422.1 million), and profits were ¥817 million ($10 million), up from a loss of ¥644 million ($7.9 million) for the same period a year ago.