Xbox 360 | Capcom six-month profits spike 58%

Publisher rides continued popularity of Resident Evil 5, million-unit start of Monster Hunter Tri to $426M in sales, $32M income during Apr.-Sept. period.

Capcom may have a zombie fetish, but its current fiscal year performance is anything but ambling. Despite a relative dearth of blockbuster titles, Capcom said in July that revenues hit ¥19.5 billion ($213 million) for the April-June quarter, a 19.2 percent revenue growth. Reporting on its six-month performance today, the publisher said that revenues have maintained their double-digit growth pace, rising 24.5 percent for the April-September period to ¥38.9 billion ($426 million).

Not even a kraken could get in the way of Monster Hunter Tri.

What's more, Capcom managed to right its profit trajectory during the back half of its six-month earnings period. Whereas net profits dipped 6.4 percent to ¥2.23 billion ($24.4 million) during the April-June quarter, Capcom said that its six-month income soared 58.4 percent to ¥2.96 billion ($32.4 million).

The publisher's Home Video Games segment again bolstered Capcom's financials. The segment grew revenues to ¥27.7 billion yen ($303 million) during the six-month period, a 68.3 percent rise. Operating income doubled to ¥7.3 billion ($79.9 million).

"As for the video game industry, the Japanese domestic market has been on a downward trend, but it started to show some signs of recovery," Capcom said as part of its report. "Such an improvement, though not steady, is supported by the release of several large-scale titles that energized the home video game market."

Monster Hunter Tri sold 1 million units following its August 1 launch, though Capcom did not delineate how many units were sold as part of the game's Wii bundle. Other top sellers during the period included Resident Evil 5 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for the PSP, and Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth for the DS.

Despite the substantial growth in its console and handheld gaming business, Capcom maintained its full-year earnings projections, due to continued weakness in its Arcade segment. For the full year ending March 31, 2010, Capcom expects net sales to hit ¥95 billion ($1.04 billion). Net income is projected to come in at ¥8.5 billion ($93 million).

Capcom 2009-2010 Game Lineup Press Conference : Part 16/18

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/adventure/residentevil5/news.html?sid=6238362