Capcom profits on the rise

Capcom today announced its financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2005, and the results were looking up over last year's numbers. Revenue was up almost 13 percent to 47.9 billion yen ($404 million), with net profits of 7.4 billion yen ($62 million), more than four times what the company posted for the same quarter last year.

The company cited strong sales of Resident Evil 4 on the PlayStation 2 and Monster Hunter Portable on the PSP (to be released as Monster Hunter Freedom in the US) as main drivers of its game revenue. Capcom went so far as to issue a pair of separate statements touting that it has shipped 3 million copies of its latest zombie shooter for the PS2 and GameCube and 500,000 copies of Monster Hunter Portable. While it didn't divulge any numbers, the company also said Mega Man Battle Network 6 for the Game Boy Advance was selling well.

However, the biggest impact on the company's profits over the same quarter last year was made not by game sales, but by taxes. Instead of paying out 1.7 billion yen ($14 million) in corporate, local, and enterprise taxes, as it did for the previous holiday quarter, this year the company actually added 2.1 billion yen ($17.7 million) to its bottom line in apparent tax breaks. Before taxes are figured in, the company's profits increased a more modest 66 percent from 3.2 billion yen ($27 million) to 5.3 billion yen ($44.7 million).

As for the future, Capcom reiterated its previous projections for its current fiscal year (ending March 31, 2006) but said that its numbers might be affected by "the aggressive action of foreign game manufacturers," an especially severe winter, and even the Torino Olympics. In less-than-shocking news, Capcom also said it would continue its multiplatform strategy and streamline its development efforts to offset the rising cost of making games.