Japanese game maker Sega Corp said on Tuesday it stayed in the red in the first half due to an appraisal loss on its shareholdings, but it managed to squeeze out an operating profit as restructuring steps took effect.
Sega, in the midst of major transformation into a game software developer from a console maker, said it posted a net loss of 20.87 billion yen ($169.5 million) for the six months through September 30, against a loss of 32.46 billion yen a year earlier.
But the company posted a 5.78 billion yen operating profit for the period, returning to the black after a loss of 28.15 billion yen a year earlier.
The results come as little surprise to the stock market as the company said in October that it expected a group net loss of 20 billion yen with a 4.6 billion yen operating profit.
Sega, which is also Japan"s largest game arcade operator, attributed the net loss to a 29 billion yen special loss from a slide in the value of its shareholdings. It said that a solid performance in the arcade business helped improve the figures.
The company left unchanged its October estimate of a 15 billion yen group loss for the full year to March and forecast 200 billion yen in sales.
Sega aims to lift profit in its consumer game business by releasing a total of 84 game titles in the second half of the current business year, 60 of which will be designed for other companies" consoles such as Sony Corp"s PlayStation2 and Microsoft Corp"s Xbox.
The announcement came after the Tokyo stock market closed.