Ahead of the publication of firm numbers for its current financial year, publisher Konami has issued a stark word of caution to investors, warning them that the numbers are likely to bring bad news.

Konami expects that profits for the current financial year will be 82 per cent down on the year before, with revenue dropping 22.5 per cent. A quiet release period is the main cause, according to the firm.

“Net revenues and profits of the consolidated interim results are expected to decrease when compared with the figures corresponding to September 30th 2008,” a statement read.

“This is mainly due to factors such as the fact that main titles released by our Digital Entertainment segment for the current fiscal year were not scheduled to be released until the second half of the year while in the same period last year major titles, in particular, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, had already been released.”

Big releases on the horizon include PSP outing Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

Last month also saw the arrival of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, but despite it’s UK Charts number one debut, the game slumped to number five in just its second week of release.