Revenues dive at Sega Sammy

Sega Sammy has reported an overall revenue drop of 29.9 per cent in its latest fiscal results ending 30th September.

Net sales for the company finished the half year at $1.9 billion, whilst the group recorded a drop of 83.7 per cent in net income from the previous year, which now stands at $51 million.

Operating income at the firm also dropped by 67.6 per cent to $195 million.

The consumer business division reported a decrease of 13.1 per cent in sales, to $434 million, and also showed an operating loss of $77 million, up from $16 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

“In the home video game industry, demand was generally weak in the U.S. and European markets due to the headwinds such as sluggish personal consumption,” Sega Sammy chief exec Hajime Satomi said.

“The Group needs to adapt to a changing business environment in which the market demand for new content geared toward social networking services and smartphones is expanding.”

Despite claiming domestic video games sales remained solid, overseas figures fell below the previous year’s performance, selling 4.8 million units.

Satomi put the poor figures partly down to the global economic crisis and also to uncertainty in the Japanese economy due to the impacts of the 11th march earthquake, stating concerns had arisen on availability of parts and materials and an expected prolonged shortage of electricity supply.