Japanese gaming conglomerate Sega Sammy Holdings has revised up its forecast for the financial year ending 31 March 2022 after reporting a significant increase in sales and income for the nine months to 31 December 2021.
Releasing its results through the December quarter on Thursday, Sega Sammy said net sales for the nine-month period had grown 12.6% year-on-year to JPY236.75 billion (US$2.04 billion), with profit attributable to owners of the parent of JPY29.46 billion (US$254 million). This reversed a loss of JPY6.24 billion (US$54 million) during the same period a year earlier.
As such, the company now anticipates net sales of JPY315.0 billion (US$2.72 billion) for FY23, revised up from a previous forecast of JPY305.0 billion (US$2.63 billion), with profit also revised from JPY15.0 billion (US$129 million) to JPY26.5 billion (US$229 million).
The primary reasons for the improvement have been strong results in each of its Entertainment Contents Business and pachislot and pachinko segments, offset by the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its resorts segment. Sega Sammy is a joint venture partner in Korean integrated resort Paradise City in Incheon and also operates non-gaming resort Phoenix Seagaia Resort in Miyazaki, Japan.
The company said that total table drop at Paradise City during the nine months to 31 December 2021 reached just 47.8% of the prior year’s level and the number of guests just 58.4%. Guest numbers at Phoneix Seagaia Resort grew by 114% year-on-year however, pushing segment sales to a 36.8% increase to JPY6.68 billion (US$58 million). Segment loss for the period was JPY4.65 billion (US$40 million).
In the pachinko and pachislot segment, net sales grew 38.7% year-on-year to JPY51.85 billion (US$447 million) with ordinary income of JPY6.03 billion (US$52 million) compared with a prior year loss of JPY8.77 billion (US$76 million).
“For pachinko machines, the replacement is progressing well with multiple titles of new regulation machines gaining popularity to meet the deadline for removing the [old] machines based on former regulations, scheduled for the end of January 2022,” the company said.
“For pachislot machines, although the performance has been relatively sluggish, it is hoped that new titles expected to become popular among users [as a result of a wider range of game elements will be introduced]. Meanwhile, the supply system has been unstable due to the global shortage of semiconductors and logistics disruption, requiring continuous monitoring.”
In the Entertainment Contents Business, comprising games for PCs and gaming consoles, net sales grew 6.1% to JPY177.85 billion (US$1.53 billion) while ordinary income increased 11.0% to JPY36.85 billion (US$318 million).
