In the fiscal year ended March 2024, sales increased but profit declined versus the previous fiscal year. We recorded sales of ¥356.3 billion, operating income of ¥32.5 billion, ordinary income of ¥41.5 billion, and profit attributable to owners of parent of ¥14.9 billion. The decline in profit attributable to owners of parent was mainly due to the termination of development efforts on certain content in the Digital Entertainment segment in line with our revised approach to high-definition (HD) game development. This resulted in a loss on disposal of content of ¥22 billion, which we recognized as extraordinary loss in the fiscal year ended March 2024. I will next outline our performances in each of our segments.
The Digital Entertainment segment recorded net sales of ¥248.1 billion and operating income of ¥25.4 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2024.
In the High-Definition (HD) Games sub-segment, sales increased versus the previous fiscal year due to the release of multiple major titles including “FINAL FANTASY XVI,” “FINAL FANTASY PIXEL REMASTER,” “Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince,” and “FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH.” Profit declined, however, owing to development cost amortization and advertising expenses associated with these new major releases.
The Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) Game sub-segment implemented various operational initiatives globally in the lead-up to the July 2024 release of a “FINAL FANTASY XIV” expansion package. We also worked actively on customer retention strategies for “Dragon Quest X,” including launching our latest expansion package in March 2024.
The Games for Smart Devices/PC Browsers (SD) sub-segment derives the majority of its earnings from Japan’s mature smartphone game market, in which hit titles have become more difficult to produce. Against this challenging backdrop, we launched “FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS” in September 2023 and received many positive customer reviews. Core titles including “DRAGON QUEST WALK” also generated solid results.
The Amusement segment recorded net sales of ¥61.5 billion and operating income of ¥7.5 billion, reflecting continued solid performance at suburban locations, as in the previous fiscal year, as well as strong sales at existing urban facilities.
The Publication segment posted net sales of ¥31.0 billion and operating income of ¥11.9 billion, reflecting an increase in both print and digital sales versus the previous fiscal year, helped by the massive popularity of anime TV series “The Apothecary Diaries.”
The Merchandising segment recorded net sales of ¥18.9 billion and operating income of ¥5.6 billion, partly due to strong sales of new character merchandise connected with titles launched during the fiscal year such as “FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH” and “FINAL FANTASY XVI.”
In May 2021, we started implementing a variety of initiatives as part of our previous medium-term plan, which covered the three years through to fiscal year ended March 2024 and targeted sales of ¥400-500 billion and operating income of ¥60-75 billion. In 2022, we initiated a rebuild of our HD and SD portfolios within the Digital Entertainment segment by selling three overseas studios and certain IP assets. In addition, we bolstered our earnings base by expanding our MMO business, generated stable growth in the Publication segment, ensured Amusement segment earnings recovered following the COVID-19 pandemic, and achieved sustained growth in the Merchandising segment.
Challenges nonetheless lingered. These include improving the profitability of our Digital Entertainment segment, where HD games are our primary offering, as well as ensuring that we manage our title portfolio in a way that spans the entire Company and maintains a medium- to long-term perspective. As a result of these outstanding issues, we fell short of our targets, recording net sales of ¥356.3 billion and operating income of ¥32.5 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2024, the final year of the medium-term business plan.
This concludes my summary of our financial performance for FY2024/3, as well as of our previous medium-term business plan as a whole.