Sega Sammy Doubles its Losses in Q1, But Shares Jump

Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. recently announced its first-quarter fiscal results today, revealing a net loss that doubled (year-over-year) to 10.5 billion yen ($97 million), while sales declined 22 percent to 74.6 billion yen. The company put some of the blame on the global economy and the Japanese economy as well as its pachinko and arcade businesses. The pachinko business saw a loss of around $40 million.

That said, the publisher's home video game division has been faring much better, with net sales increasing to 30.5 billion yen and operating loss reduced to 4.12 billion yen. Overall, Sega Sammy sold 6.89 million units of software during the quarter, with 3.16 million coming from the U.S., 2.89 million from Europe and 830,000 from Japan and other regions. Titles that were highlighted include Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, which has shipped 7 million copies worldwide, Iron Man, which is approaching 2 million sold in the U.S. and Europe, and Valkyria Chronicles, which had "strong" sales in Japan.

Despite widening its net loss for the period, Sega Sammy beat expectations and its shares rose 13 percent to close at 1,201 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on August 1, which is the sharpest increase since its listing as a holding company on Oct. 1, 2004, Bloomberg reported. Overall, however, Sega Sammy shares have fallen 13 percent this year.

Turn up the power, on WarCraft! http://www.urgamesnow.com