Capcom enjoys bumper year as sales jump over 10%
Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter IV maker sees sales and profit climb
Japanese publisher and developer Capcom has seen net sales rise 10.6 per cent from the previous year as the releases of Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter IV helped it beat the credit crunch.
Following a particularly disappointing third quarter, with few new releases of note, the fourth quarter saw two of the company's biggest hits of recent times. Resident Evil 5 enjoyed a first shipment of over 4 million units worldwide, while Street Fighter IV has shipped over 2 million units.
With Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (aka Monster Hunter Freedom Unite) still performing strongly in Japan, with shipments now standing at over 2.55 million, Capcom's full year revenues were the highest in three years.
Overall net sales were put at JPY 91.9 billion (USD 924 million) for the year, with net income up by 3.3 per cent to JPY 8.1 billion (USD 81 million). Home videogame sales alone were up 21.7 per cent to JPY 51,679 million (USD 520 million), with operating income up 41.2 per cent to JPY 11.6 billion (USD 117 million).
Sales in Japan were up 1.2 per cent to a total of JPY 63.4 billion (USD 638 million), with US revenues rising 53.4 per cent to JPY 24.9 billion (USD 250 million). European sales saw an increase of 44.8 per cent to JPY 14.2 billion (USD 143 million).
Despite efforts to rebrand its arcade operations with a more family focus, operating income for Capcom's range of Japanese locations were down 70.2 per cent, despite a small increase in revenues.
Actual coin-op sales were healthier though, with a 22.7 per cent increase in sales and a 48.7 per cent boost in operating income. This improvement was attributed largely to the release of Street Fighter IV.
The only major disappointment for the company was its "Contents Expansion" business, which includes mobile phone content and Pachislot coin-ops. Net sales were down 45.7 per cent and operating income dropped by a massive 108.7 per cent.
The publisher is now forecasting net sales of JPY 95 billion (USD 956 million) for the next financial year, as the company aims for four years of consecutive sales growth. Ordinary income is predicted to increase to JPY 14,700 million (USD 148 million), for the 12 months ending March 31, 2010.