GGRAsia – Konami slot division revenue down, profit up in Apr-June

Konami slot division revenue down, profit up in Apr-June

Jul 31, 2017 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News, Top of the deck

Konami Holdings Corp’s gaming and systems division reported revenue of JPY6.48 billion (US$58.7 million) for the three months ended June 30, down by 4.4 percent from the prior-year period. Profit for the segment however increased by 8.7 percent year-on-year to JPY804 million, the Japanese conglomerate said on Friday.

“Total revenue from [the gaming and systems division] decreased because [Konami’s] new casino management systems were mostly installed at small and medium-sized casinos, despite strong sales of slot machines mainly in the North American market,” the firm said in its results announcement.

Konami added: “The segment profit, however, increased mainly due to promoting cost reduction in existing products.”

In the gaming segment, Konami operates outside Japan via Konami Australia Pty Ltd and U.S.-based Konami Gaming Inc.

Konami stated that during the period it expanded the range of its Concerto cabinet series with the release of the new Concerto Crescent machine, which uses Konami’s first curved screen. The firm also released the Concerto Stack cabinet, that uses a large-size vertical screen.

“We also focused on sales of the long-selling Podium series, which has a richly diverse product line-up and continues to receive favourable reviews in the Central and South American, African and Asian markets,” the company added.

Konami said it forecast revenue from its gaming and systems division to reach JPY32.0 billion for the year ended March 2018. Segment profit for the fiscal year should be JPY5.5 billion, the firm added.

Group wide, Konami reported revenue of JPY55.74 billion for the three months ended June 30, up by 12.8 percent in year-on-year terms. Profit for the period increased by approximately 46.4 percent to JPY8.51 billion, the firm said.

Beside casino slot gaming, the Japanese conglomerate is also involved in the Japan-focused pachinko game segment, digital entertainment – including video games and mobile games – and health and fitness.

Konami Gaming signed last month a cross-licensing deal with casino and lottery equipment maker International Game Technology Plc (IGT). Under the arrangement – described by IGT as a “patent cross-licensing agreement” – Konami Gaming will be able to offer games including patented game features from the IGT product portfolio, and will pay licensing fees to IGT, according to a statement released by the latter company.