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West on the rise as DeNA's Q1 FY13 sales up 10% to $526 million

But operating profit slides 8% to $171 million

West on the rise as DeNA's Q1 FY13 sales up 10% to $526 million
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| DeNA financial news

Japanese mobile gaming company DeNA (TYO:2432), has announced its Q1 2014 figures for the 3 months ending 30 June 2013.

Revenue was ¥52.2 billion (around $526 million), up 10 percent year-on-year.

Operating profit was ¥17 billion ($171 million), down 8 percent.

One bright spot was the performance of Mobage in the West, which was profitable for the first time in June.

Revenue from what DeNA calls its international business was around $80 million during the quarter.

And its Chinese business is "approaching breakeven".

System shock

Digging down into DeNA figures, the consumption of MobaCoins - the platform's in-game currency - dropped in Japan.

Activity was worth ¥54.8 billion ($553 million) during Q1.

This is higher than DeNA's sales because players don't immediately spend the MobaCoins they purchase, hence there's always some stored value in the system.

Consumption was down 6 percent compared to the previous quarter, and stable compared to the ¥54.1 billion ($545 million) MobaCoins spend 12 months ago.

Loosening Japanese ties

Significantly, the majority of MobaCoin consumption comes from browser-based games in Japan, rather than native games - the key driver of revenue in the west.

The company says it plans to release 60 new games during the next 9 months, of which 70 percent will be app-based.

There will be at least 20 new app games released internationally.

It's also looking to boost the percentage of international sales that come from its first and second-party games.

At the moment, the vast majority of sales come from its third-party publishing activities.

Steady as she goes

In terms of Q2 financials, DeNA predicts sales will be static - up 1 percent year-on-year - to ¥50.9 billion ($513 million).

The company ended the quarter with cash and equivalents worth ¥46.7 billion ($470 million), down from ¥58.4 billion ($589 million) three months ago.

[source: DeNA IR (PDF)]

Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.