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Sega Sammy annual revs slip to $4.49 billion

Sonic publisher sees earnings slide 6.5%, though losses halved to $239 million from a year prior.

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In February, Sega Sammy said that it would be trimming its workforce in the wake of flagging sales and a weakening global economy. As part of its decision to reduce head count by approximately 18 percent--or 560 jobs--the publisher significantly revised its full-year financial outlook downward. And though the good news for Sega Sammy is that the company lost less than what it thought it would, the bad news is that the publisher still posted losses of ¥22.9 billion ($239.5 million).

Sonic isn't the same golden-ring collector he once was.
Sonic isn't the same golden-ring collector he once was.

Reporting on its fiscal year-end results this week, Sega Sammy said that revenues for the period fell 6.5 percent to ¥429 billion ($4.49 billion), down from ¥458.9 billion ($4.8 billion) a year prior. However, the aforementioned losses were a significant improvement over fiscal-year 2008, which saw a red pool of ink amounting to ¥52.5 billion ($549.5 million).

Sega Sammy's home-gaming business again sagged on the publisher's financials. Sonic Unleashed and Football Manager 2009 were the publisher's top-performing games released during the fiscal year, and the company also called out Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games as a continued strong seller. In all, the division--which also includes toys and mobile phones--saw revenues dip 7.5 percent to ¥131.6 billion ($1.38 billion), with operating losses amounting to ¥941 million ($9.85 million).

Stymieing losses was Sega Sammy's pachislot and pachinko machine business. Thanks to a number of popular new releases during the year, the arcade machines logged sales of ¥162.5 billion ($1.70 billion), up 11 percent year-over-year. Operating income also saw a significant spike during the period, rising 72 percent to ¥14.5 billion ($152 million).

Looking ahead to its current fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, Sega Sammy expects to continue to hedge its sinking revenues, with sales expected to be down 2 percent to ¥420 billion ($4.39 billion). The publisher also expects to reverse its string of losses during the year and expects to end up posting a net profit of ¥15 billion ($157 million).

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