Konami expects 82% profit drop

Japanese publisher Konami has released a forecast of its revenues for the six months ending September 30 with the top line prediction of an 82 per cent drop in profit compared to the previous year.

In total the company is expecting to collect JPY 114 billion (USD 1.26 billion) in revenue, down 22.5 per cent on the same period in 2008, while net income is predicted to come in at JPY 2.2 billion (USD 24.3 million), down from JPY 12 billion (USD 132.8 million) last year.

According to a financial statement the company is attributing the collapse to a quiet release period, with its major titles launching in the second half of its fiscal year - as well as unfavourable comparisons to last year's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots release.

"Even though the figures for the consolidated business performance for the six months ended September 30, 2009 were approximate to the projected ones in all segments, net revenues and profits of the consolidated interim results are expected to decrease when compared with the figures corresponding to September 30, 2008, mainly due to factors such as the fact that main titles released by our Digital Entertainment segment for the current fiscal year were not scheduled to be released until the second half of the year while in the same period last year major titles, in particular, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, had already been released," it read.

The company's share price closed down today by 1.9 per cent as JPY 1641 (USD 18.16).