Bandai Namco sees flat first quarter with little help from game sales
Gaming saw 5.4% decline year over year while all other segments saw slight increases
It was a non-descript first quarter for Bandai Namco, with revenue and profits fairly flat in the company's Q1 financials. Gaming didn't help matters, as the "network entertainment" segment's net sales were down 5.4% year-over-year.
Net sales for the company were up 4.7% year-over-year to ¥150.9 billion ($1.4 billion), with operating profit at ¥17.8 billion ($161 million), an increase of 14.6% year-over-year.
Those slight lifts were fueled by every segment of the company except network entertainment, which is Bandai Namco's gaming segment. Network entertainment saw net sales of ¥70 billion ($628 million), down 5.4%.
That shouldn't be totally shocking, as Bandai Namco released fewer titles in Q1 than it did in Q1 of last fiscal year (31 this year compared to 46, including localizations). The company sold 4,031,000 units in the quarter compared to 5,622,000 year-over year.
With things steady overall, Bandai Namco kept its full-year guidance the same, predicting net sales of ¥650 billion ($5.84 billion) and profits of ¥43 billion ($386.8 million). The company anticipates 160 new titles (including localizations) for the full year, down slightly from 187 titles released last year.