Square Enix posts £91m loss

Square Enix has posted a loss of 91m (YEN 12bn) for its fiscal year ending March 31st, 2011.

Net sales dropped 35 per cent year-on-year from 1.4bn (YEN 192bn) to 953m (YEN 125bn).

Last year the Japanese publisher posted profits of 72.5m (YEN 9.5bn), meaning profits crashed 226 per cent compared to the same period last year.

These figures fall in line with Square Enix’s revised forecast, which yesterday warned investors of ‘extraordinary’ losses. It previously expected to generate profits of 7.6m (YEN 1bn).

Square Enix blamed the loss on weak console game sales and the delay of a Final Fantasy XIV which launched last year.

Negative player feedback for the online subscription-based PC RPG resulted in Square Enix extending the game’s free trial in October last year, while the PS3 version was delayed to improve its quality. The latter SKU has not yet been released.

The publisher said the Japanese earthquake and tsunami also factored into the group’s loss.

Square Enix president and representative director Yoichi Wada said: Our Group experienced significantly lower sales and profit during the fiscal year mainly due to weak performance of console game titles released during the year, as well as the impact of a continued delay in billing for a key online title, which was newly launched during the year.

Project development cancellation and related losses as well as losses caused by a natural disaster were also factors in the recording of total extraordinary losses.

In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, we are very focused on the Group’s key strategic initiatives of globalisation, becoming ‘network centric’, and strengthening our own IPs as we work to generate a substantial earnings recovery from the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2013 and beyond.”