Bandai Namco reports rising profits amid restructure
Japanese publisher has increased its full-year forecast after a solid Q3
Bandai Namco saw gains in revenue and profits in the third quarter, raising its full-year forecast as a result.
In the three-month period ending December 31, 2020, the Japanese publisher earned ¥206 billion in revenue ($1.97 billion), up 12% over the same quarter last year.
It earned a net profit of ¥18.9 billion ($181 million), a relatively minor 3% increase year-on-year.
The company's Network and Entertainment unit was the top earner in Q3 last year, but it lost that position despite a 12% rise in revenue to ¥88.2 billion ($843 million).
Bandai Namco's Toys and Hobby unit surged even further, rising 26% to hit ¥92.1 billion ($880 million) in revenue for the quarter.
From April this year, the Network and Entertainment and Toys and Hobby units will be merged to create the new "Entertainment Unit" -- part of a broader restructuring initiative that Bandai Namco announced this week.
The publisher had two notable releases in the third quarter: Dontnod Entertainment's Twin Mirror, and Little Hope, the new episode in Supermassive Entertainment's The Dark Pictures Anthology.
In the nine months of the fiscal year so far, Bandai Namco's video games have sold 32.3 million units, up from 15.5 million units at the same point in the last fiscal year.
The company has revised its projections for the current fiscal year, with revenue now expected to be ¥720 billion (up 11%), and net income forecast to be ¥36 billion (9%).