I didn't know that Konami owned the majority of Hudson.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aOtiJSwIFPj8&refer=japan
Hudson Expects Profit to Rise Fourfold on Nintendo Game Titles
By Toshiro Hasegawa and Hiroshi Suzuki
April 7 (Bloomberg) --Hudson Soft Co., controlled by Konami Corp., plans to boost profit almost fourfold within three years by focusing on video-game titles for Nintendo Co.'s Wii console.
The company targets operating profit of 10 billion yen ($98 million) as early as the year to March 2011, incoming President Michihiro Ishizuka said in an interview on March 26. Tokyo-based Hudson also intends to pay a dividend for the 12 months ending March 31, the first time in five years, he said.
Hudson plans to release eight titles in 2008 for the Wii, which outsold the PlayStation 3 by three times last fiscal year in Japan, causing Sony Corp. to be dethroned as the nation's top console maker. Hudson already has 10 Wii titles such as ``Battle Lode Runner,'' in which users collect gold while avoiding captivity to advance to the next level.
``The game-software industry is one of the sectors that will lead corporate earnings this fiscal year,'' said Yoshihiro Okumura, who helps oversee about $365 million at Chiba-gin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``In particular, companies related to Nintendo have a lot of room for profit growth.''
Operating profit rose 53 percent to 2.7 billion yen in the year ended March 31, more than the company's 2 billion yen forecast, because of stronger-than-expected game sales for the Wii and Nintendo's DS handheld player, Hudson said March 4 in a preliminary earnings report. Operating profit is revenue minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses.
Hudson fell 1.7 percent to 1,770 yen as of 9:13 a.m. in trading on the Osaka Securities Exchange's Hercules market for startup companies.
Winners, Losers
``Two years from now will be the time when game-software developers' profits are expected to grow the most, after the winner and loser for consoles becomes clear,'' Ishizuka said. ``I will ensure earnings jump in the next three years by promoting licensing of our games and increasing spending on promotions.''
Ishizuka, currently Hudson's vice president, will replace Hidetoshi Endo as president in June after shareholder approval.
The company is 54 percent owned by Tokyo-based game-software maker Konami, which will release the newest installment of its ``Metal Gear Solid'' spy series for the PlayStation 3 in June. Hudson also counts JP Morgan Asset Management Japan, UBS AG and Kyoto-based Nintendo as shareholders, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Sales of the Wii in Japan jumped 91 percent to 3.74 million units in the year ended March 31, surpassing the 1.94 million PlayStation 2 and 3 models sold by Sony, according to Tokyo-based researcher Enterbrain Inc.
Nintendo will probably overtake Sony in worldwide sales of home game consoles this fiscal year as the Wii extends its lead over the PS3, according to Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd.
