Sega Sammy full-year profits jump 105%

Sega Sammy added its name to the list of industry players that turned in positive results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011. Reporting on its fiscal 2011 results, Sega Sammy said revenues inched up 3.1 percent during the 12-month period to ¥396.7 billion ($4.91 billion). Meanwhile, profits boomed during the period, jumping 105.4 percent to ¥41.5 billion ($513 million).

For its consumer business (which houses home gaming software and toys), Sega Sammy saw the biggest performance from Sonic Colors, which sold 2.18 million units. Released for the Wii and DS in November 2010, the platformer defied the Sonic franchise's recent trend of poor quality by securing a strong critical reception. Iron Man 2 also broke the platinum milestone, selling 1.54 million units.

Sega Sammy's collaboration with Platinum Games also yielded some success, as Shinji Mikami's sci-fi shooter Vanquish finished the year with 830,000 units sold. Shogun 2: Total War and Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity rounded out Sega Sammy's best-seller list, moving 600,000 units and 370,000 units, respectively.

Calling demand "generally weak in the US and European markets," Sega Sammy recognized that it needs to "adapt to changing business environment in which the market demand for new content geared to social networking service (SNS) and smartphone is expanding."

All said, the consumer business posted revenues of ¥89.55 billion ($1.11 billion), which is off 26.5 percent from a year ago. Likewise, operating income fell 68.9 percent to ¥1.97 billion ($24.38 billion).

In projecting its earnings expectations for the in-progress fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, Sega Sammy cautioned that the Japanese market remains wildly unpredictable following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the country on March 11, 2011. Still, Sega Sammy said it expects sales to rise 13.4 percent to ¥450 billion ($5.57 billion), with profit falling off 20.5 percent to ¥33 billion ($408 million).