Sega Sammy reports $444.46m net profits April-Dec 2004

[TEXAN]

Sega Sammy Holdings reports $444M profit

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TOKYO -- Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. on Thursday reported a group net profit of 46.22 billion yen ($444.46 million) for the nine months ending Dec. 31, boosted by revenues from its computer game software and "pachinko" pinball machines.

It was the first time for Japan's top game software company - previously two separate entertainment firms Sega and Sammy - to report combined earnings figures since the integration of their operations last October.

Tokyo-based Sega Sammy said its group sales totaled 399.44 billion yen ($3.84 billion) in the period.

The company maintained its outlook for the full fiscal year through March 31, expecting 53.50 billion yen ($514.42 million) in net profit on sales of 528 billion yen ($5.08 billion).

In the nine month period, the Sammy division, which is focused on pachinko machines, performed more strongly that the Sega game-software division.

The Sammy division posted a group net profit of 48 billion yen ($461.54 million), more than twice its year-earlier profit of 18.70 billion yen.

Its operating profit nearly doubled to 83.75 billion yen ($805.29 million) during the period, while sales jumped 77.8 percent on year to 257.82 billion yen ($2.48 billion).

The company said the division fared well on sales of its "Hokuto No Ken" pachinko machines and its "Kaiji" slot machine series equipped with 13-inch liquid crystal displays.

At the Sega division, operating profit fell 54.9 percent to 3.45 billion yen ($33.20 million) from 7.66 billion yen a year earlier due to some unexpected closures of its game arcades, the company said.

But sales rose 1.4 percent to 146.51 billion yen ($1.41 billion) from 144.51 billion yen, thanks to strong sales of game software in North America and Europe, including "Sonic Mega Collection Plus" for Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2 and the "Football Manager" game for personal computers.

Sega Sammy shares, which fell to nearly 4,700 yen ($45.19) in October and then rebounded gradually, dropped 1.22 percent to 6,480 yen ($62.31) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange shortly before earnings were announced.

 

[chrisrt2]

Good and bad news... Atleast they won't be shutting doors anytime soon.

Let's buy one for Sega this coming gen. If they work it right it could be their gen...

 

[Sonic]

Sure, if they get a handle on the hardware from the very start then they won't be lagging for a few generations. Here's to them bringing new innovative software plus some old school games back to the heyday.

They can do it, but the real question is will they?

 

[Evil_Cloud]

They said 2005 was the start of a new Sega, I am very curious.

 

[TEXAN]

They said 2005 was the start of a new Sega, I am very curious.

Who said that? and when?

Link?

 

[hey69]

i believe SegaR&D said that ..

 

[Almasy]

Nice profit, where are the good games?

 

[cthellis42]

Nice profit, where are the good games?

Sega didn't make the profit. Feel free to enjoy the good pachinko machines, though!

Indeed, I hope Sega can pull up their britches and wade into next generation well, because they haven't scored well lately. Super Monkey Ball cand Virtua Fighter can only keep me appeased for so long...

 

[Evil_Cloud]

They said 2005 was the start of a new Sega, I am very curious.

Who said that? and when?

Link?

I recall a few Sega employees saying that. (for example recently with the announcement of SoA and SoE teaming up).

Why else would they integrate all Sega teams back into Sega, restructure teams and arcades, put Sega of America and Sega Europe together under one roof, combine Sega with Sammy's game devision, get rid of Visual Concepts,...

Sega has been through a lot of internal changes, they are fully preparing to take on the big names in the industry once again.

 

[Kolgar]

Sega has been through a lot of internal changes, they are fully preparing to take on the big names in the industry once again.

You really think so? I don't think it'll happen.

Sega got beat up in the hardware wars. They're turning it around now that they're software-only. You think investors would ALLOW Sega to jump back into a business that nearly bankrupted it?

Besides, I think soon it's going to be very hard for "game" companies like Sega and Nintendo to compete in the hardware biz anymore. To be successful going forward, I think you're going to need a synergistic box like Sony and Microsoft are driving toward - a convergence device for the living room.

I doubt Sega has the resources to 1) rejoin this crowded field, and 2) develop hardware on that level. And as I said before, I just can't see shareholders buying it.

 

[Almasy]

Sega didn't make the profit. Feel free to enjoy the good pachinko machines, though!

Indeed, I hope Sega can pull up their britches and wade into next generation well, because they haven't scored well lately. Super Monkey Ball cand Virtua Fighter can only keep me appeased for so long...

Hey, I just got SMB2, for like $15. It´s actually really fun!

Back on topic, Sega really needs to put their act together (hopefully Shinig Force turns out to be great), because as of now it´s kinda sad to see them being so irrelevant to the business.

 

[Fodder]

You really think so? I don't think it'll happen.

I think he meant competing with the likes of EA on the next-gen systems. Sega haven't been pumping out the best games these last few years.

 

[jvd]

HOpefully sega will pick one system as the main platform to develop for next gen and then port to the other systems at a later date .

Hopefully they can make a really good sonic adventure game . They can bring out a good pds 2 and pump out some older franchises .

Also with developing from the start on the new systems they wont be behind in exploiting the systems .

Imagine a vf5 on xenon of ps3 at launch or around launch . They could revive the franchise with a really stunning engine and gameplay

 

[Evil_Cloud]

You really think so? I don't think it'll happen.

I think he meant competing with the likes of EA on the next-gen systems. Sega haven't been pumping out the best games these last few years.

You are correct.

I expect Sega's software quality and output to rise significantly over the coming years. Their now have their teams, organisation, money, IP and talent in place to take on the top publishers in the industry.

 

[passerby]

This is actually a very important year for Sega in their home market - Japan. Because follow-ups to two cult series will be released this year. Tengai Makyou 3 and Sakura Taisen 5. These are their last two trump cards from the glory days. If either one can't sell well, then an era truly has passed.

 

[Fox5]

Nice profit, where are the good games?

Sega didn't make the profit. Feel free to enjoy the good pachinko machines, though!

Indeed, I hope Sega can pull up their britches and wade into next generation well, because they haven't scored well lately. Super Monkey Ball cand Virtua Fighter can only keep me appeased for so long...

Sega made some of the profit, from their sale of Visual Concepts.

 

[cthellis42]

Sega made some of the profit, from their sale of Visual Concepts.

Oh good... It's highly encouraging that they can make some profit by selling off their talent rather than making games with them.

Regardless, tongue was rather firmly planted in cheek about it all.

 

[Lazy8s]

Over half a billion dollars a year... SEGA's money problems are a thing of the past.

Sammy's pachinko/slot amusement business brings in all of this profit, yet it takes little investment from them and leaves them with nothing to spend their money on. They chose SEGA to help them expand across the video game field in a big way, with big funding in tow. Third-party publishing for consoles isn't a successful business for SEGA, though, so Sammy might be looking toward hardware instead with the company's combined experience in the field. And, of course, SEGA much prefers to lead the way on a first-party platform, too.

Sega Sammy still have the right contacts for system design work. After seeing how well their last console faired technologically against newer competition and how well the 2003 MBX still compares to other entrants today, it'd be exciting to see what PowerVR could do in a new console. Solutions from Renesas would be interesting to see, as well, since it's been a long time coming from the SuperH division they now control.

 

[PC-Engine]

I think you're going to need a synergistic box like Sony and Microsoft are driving toward - a convergence device for the living room.

I doubt Sega has the resources to 1) rejoin this crowded field, and 2) develop hardware on that level. And as I said before, I just can't see shareholders buying it.

You're probably right about SEGA, but wrong about Nintendo since there are plenty of CE partners that are available for hire. The Panasonic Q is a good example. If only Panasonic released it in NA.

 

[TEXAN]

Over half a billion dollars a year... SEGA's money problems are a thing of the past.

Sammy's pachinko/slot amusement business brings in all of this profit, yet it takes little investment from them and leaves them with nothing to spend their money on. They chose SEGA to help them expand across the video game field in a big way, with big funding in tow. Third-party publishing for consoles isn't a successful business for SEGA, though, so Sammy might be looking toward hardware instead with the company's combined experience in the field. And, of course, SEGA much prefers to lead the way on a first-party platform, too.

Sega Sammy still have the right contacts for system design work. After seeing how well their last console faired technologically against newer competition and how well the 2003 MBX still compares to other entrants today, it'd be exciting to see what PowerVR could do in a new console. Solutions from Renesas would be interesting to see, as well, since it's been a long time coming from the SuperH division they now control.

Thats true, very true.

But lazy, when?

They have already received dev kits for the next gen systems and have already announced projects for these systems aswell, such as "Condemned"