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Namco Bandai Swings To Loss In First-Half, Posts Lower Sales
by Kris Graft
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November 6, 2009
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Tokyo, Japan-based Tekken house Namco Bandai this week posted a net loss and lower sales for its fiscal first-half ended September 30, despite a software lineup led by subsidiary D3 Publisher's Ben 10 Alien Force.
Sales for the period were ¥172.73 billion ($1.92 billion), a decrease of 9.5 percent year-on-year. The company swung to a net loss for the half, posting a loss ¥6.04 billion ($67.22 million), down from a profit last year of ¥1.28 billion ($14.24 million).
The top-selling game during the half was the kid-friendly licensed game Ben 10 Alien Force, released in Europe and the U.S. The multiplatform game sold 480,000 units during the period.
Afro Samurai on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 was the second best selling game during the half with 420,000 sold across the U.S. and Europe during the period, which does not include sales during the January-March quarter when the game originally shipped.
Tales of Vesperia for Xbox 360 and PS3 sold 410,000 units across the U.S. and Europe to become the third best-selling game during the half. While the title originally shipped last year on Xbox 360 in North America and Japan, the European Xbox 360 version launched in August this year, and the PS3 version launched in Japan in mid-September.
Namco Bandai shipped 8.36 million units of software during the half, down from 8.9 million units a year prior. In all, Namco Bandai, which released Tekken 6 in the third fiscal quarter, said it expects to sell 25.7 million software units this year, up from last year's 23.39 million units.
For the full year, Namco Bandai -- which also includes major arcade, toy, and other divisions -- expects to generate sales of ¥400 billion this year ($4.45 billion), down from last year's ¥426.4 billion ($4.75 billion). Annual net income is projected to be ¥8.5 billion ($94.62 million), down from ¥11.83 billion a year ago ($131.68 million).
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People also need to get the fact that like SEGA, Namco makes most of their money from the arcade/amusement business whereas the consumer market is merely supplementary