Bandai Namco sees profits despite games division slump

Bandai Namco’s financial report for FY2019’s Q1, ending June 30, paints a mixed – but ultimately positive – picture for the company. Profits are up, but a slump in the Network Entertainment (i.e. games) division was noted.

A drop in net sales for the Network Entertainment division was recorded, from 74 million yen (£518 million) in FY2018 to 70 million yen (£490 million) this quarter. Operating profit fell by a greater margin, dropping 20 per cent year-on-year from 12.8 billion yen (£90 million) to 10.2 billion yen (£71 million).

Part of the decline in the Network Entertainment division can be directly attributed to fewer game releases year on year, with the Americas seeing 16 games in the same period FY2018 – 11 this year – and Europe going from 21 releases in the same period FY2018 down to just 11 in Q1 FY2019. Sales of games were down year-on-year too, dropping from 5.6 million to 4 million.

The drop in overall game sales saw total income from new game sales take a tumble from 21.4 billion yen (£150 million) to 16.5 million yen (£115 million).

On a broader note, net sales across all divisions were down across the Americas and Europe, 24 per cent and 17.9 per cent respectively – but a bump in both Japan and Asia (8.7 per cent and 16.4 per cent, respectively) saw overall figures up 4.7 per cent worldwide.

Gross profit across all of Namco Bandai rose nine per cent, up from 51 billion yen (£385 million) to 55.7 billion yen (£390 million), showing that while the games division has been a slow performer so far in FY2019, there’s plenty of other stuff going on at the company to pick up any slack.

You can read the full financial report over on Bandai Namco’s official site, with the highlights document available here.