Sega Sammy posts $42.9M first-quarter loss

Sega Sammy, parent company of Sega of America, today released financial results for the first quarter of its fiscal year, and the results were mixed.

For the three months ended June 30, the company posted revenues of 95.4 billion yen ($804.3 million), an 11 percent jump over the 85.6 billion yen ($721.7 million) it managed for the same period the year before. However, the company's net haul was down significantly year-over-year, from a 779 million yen ($6.6 million) profit in the previous first quarter to a loss of nearly 5.1 billion yen ($42.9 million) for this one.

The company's consumer games division was primarily to blame for the losses, as that segment finished the quarter with an operating loss of more than 7.2 billion yen ($60.7 million). That figure was mostly offset by a 6.6 billion yen ($55.6 million) operating profit from Sega Sammy's pachinko and pachislot division.

The company explained the game division's performance partly as a seasonal issue. "With the continued push out of our global development initiatives, R&D costs were above the comparable period's levels, and with major titles slated for release in the second half, many costs were recognized in advance during the first quarter, leading to an operating loss in the segment."

The company didn't single out specific games as over- or underperforming, but it did note sales were driven primarily by older catalog titles both in Japan and overseas.