Konami profits surge 73% on slightly higher sales

While Sony's PSP frequently goes unrepresented in the US monthly top 10 sales chart, the portable and its games fare significantly better overseas. As evidence of this, Konami today posted gains in revenues and profits for the first half of its fiscal year, calling out its PSP offerings Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Love Plus + as two top sellers.

For the six months ended September 30, the gaming division's sales totaled ¥53.14 billion ($659 million), up 3.3 percent from ¥51.42 billion ($637 million) for the same period the year before. Combining the publisher's other businesses (like fitness clubs, trading cards, and casino games), company-wide revenues were up a little less than 2 percent to ¥115,763 ($1.43 billion).

While Konami's sales were barely more than flat year-over-year, the publisher did see a spike in its profits. Net income for the half year was ¥4.20 billion ($52 million), a 73 percent jump over the previous year's first half tally of ¥2.42 billion ($30 million).

While Konami said sales for Peace Walker and the latest installments of Pro Evolution Soccer "progressed favorably" for the quarter, the publisher was particularly effusive about its romance simulator Love Plus + , so far released only in Japan. According to the publisher, the game was so well received it "could be called a social phenomenon in Japan." The game launched in June in Japan, selling more than 84,000 copies in its first week and finishing second only to Monster Hunter Frontier for the Xbox 360.

Konami also gave a breakdown of the company's game sales by platform, showing a marked increase in revenues from titles for Sony platforms. The PlayStation 3 and the PSP account for 29 percent and 28 percent of the game division's sales, respectively. The two platforms combined to account for 57 percent of the Konami's game revenues in the current fiscal year, compared to 37 percent at the same point last year. While some of that share was gained at the expense of the PlayStation 2, Konami saw the Wii portion of its game sales dip from 23 percent to 12 percent, while the DS slid from 21 percent to 14 percent.

As for the back half of its fiscal year, Konami is expecting business to pick up significantly. For the full year, the publisher is expecting sales to hit ¥285 billion ($3.53 billion), with net income of ¥13.5 billion ($167 million). Key titles that could help push the publisher toward those figures include last month's Castlevania: Lord of Shadows and next week's Karaoke Revolution Glee, based on the Fox TV show.