Sega Sammy’s game business weighing down earnings

It’s not that Sega Sammy is doing especially poorly, per se. It’s more that the Japanese company continues to struggle in the Western market.

Sonic did his part, but Sega didn’t have much else.

Today, Sega Sammy issued its April-December 2011 earnings, reporting revenues of ¥312 billion ($4.07 billion), down .5 percent from the same period in 2010. Profit also gave up some of its massive gains from the year-ago period, falling 6 percent to ¥34.384 billion ($449 million).

Sega Sammy’s slot-machine business in Japan continues to be the company’s moneymaker, as the segment posts an operating profit of ¥67.495 billion ($881 million) on revenues of ¥177.716 billion ($2.32 billion). The consumer business, of which console, handheld, mobile, and social games are party, is Sega Sammy’s second-largest segment and did not fare so well.

Net sales for its home-gaming segment fell 4.9 percent year-over-year to ¥64.101 billion ($837 million). The segment also reversed last year’s modest operating profit, posting a ¥5.51 billion ($71.9 million) operating loss during the period.

Though Sega Sammy proffered no console unit-sales figures, the company said top releases during the period were Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Sonic Generations. The company also said that it found significant success with its mobile title Kingdom Quest, which sold 2 million units.