Sega Sammy Sees Net Loss, Revenue Drop

Sega parent company Sega Sammy reported less-than-stellar results for the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2008, posting falling revenues and a significant income drop that ended up as a net loss. Yearly revenues were down 13.1 percent year-over-year to 458.98 billion yen (US $4.45 billion), while the company ran a net loss of 52.47 billion yen (US $509.06 million) down from last fiscal year's net profits of 43.46 billion yen (US $421.65 million). Sega Sammy's consumer software division fared better, but still took net losses. Revenues in that segment were up 18.7 percent year-over-year to 142.3 billion yen (US $1.38 billion) with net losses of $5.99 billion yen (US $58.11 million), down from last year's profit of 1.7 billion yen (US $16.49 million). Overseas markets such as North America and Europe were cited as seeing growth in consumer software, contributing to the increased revenues, but that growth was slowed by a decrease in sales in the Japanese market. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was singled out as a strong oversees performer, while Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! (Yakuza 3) was less enthusiastically said to have "achieved a measure of popularity" in Japan. The company pegged many of its troubles on uncertainty during the second half of its fiscal year, as the Japanese market suffered from economic shockwaves originated by the United States' sub-prime mortgage crisis and other economic woes. That uncertainty played out as weakness in the Pachinko business - Sega Sammy's core enterprise.