Capcom profits increase despite Q1 sales dip

Capcom has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended June 30th, showing an overall decline in sales but a significant rise in profit bolstered by multiple handheld gaming titles.

For the first quarter, Capcom posted net sales of 10.6 billion Yen (71.5 million Euro), down from 11.4 billion Yen (77 million Euro) in the same period last year. The publisher cites a lower profile release schedule and a softened market during the hardware transition as the main reasons for the decline.

In spite of this, the publisher posted a net income of 808 million Yen (5.5 million Euro) for the period, compared to 608 million Yen (4.1 million Euro) in the previous year. Operating income also increased noticeably, posted at 1.3 billion Yen (8.8 million Euro) compared to last year's 891 million Yen (6 million Euro).

The publisher noted that, whilst overall sales declined as consumers await the launch of the next-generation systems from Sony and Nintendo, sales of handheld gaming titles such as Monster Hunter for the PSP and Megaman ZX for the DS "grew favourably" and contributed significantly to its revenue for the period.

Capcom also revealed a positive performance in its arcade division, posting net sales of 2.9 billion Yen (19.6 million Euro), up over 14 per cent on the previous year. Operating income from the division reached 398 million Yen (2.7 million Euro), up 3.6 per cent on last year. The company has increased its arcade operations with new openings in the Chiba Prefecture, bringing the total number of arcades to 33.

Arcade game sales increased to 2.1 billion Yen (14.2 million Euro), up over 55 per cent year-on-year. Operating income climbed to 479 million Yen (3.2 milli0on Euro), a massive 354 per cent increase over the previous year.

Further revenue was generated by character licensing royalties, and the publisher noted the acquisition of Canadian mobile games developer Cosmic Infinity, in a bid to expand and develop its overseas mobile gaming operations - performance of which has been "sluggish" to date, but continues to grow.