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Navarre Reports that Funimation Exceeds Q1 Expectations

Navarre Corporation, the corporate parent of the anime licensing and distribution company Funimation, announced its financial results for the first three months of the 2009 fiscal year and reported that Funimation's sales "were strong and exceeded expectations." From April 1 to June 30, 2008, Navarre's company-wide net sales were US$142 million, up from US$137 million for the same three months last year. However, within Navarre's publishing division which includes Funimation, Encore, and BCI, sales dropped from US$29.6 million to US$27.4 million year-to-year. Although Funimation's sales numbers for the quarter were lower than last year's, Navarre explains this by the fact that May of 2007 saw the launch of Afro Samurai, which went on to become the top-selling anime DVD of the entire year.

As Funimation begins releasing anime that had previously been distributed in the United States by Geneon Entertainment and by ADV Films, Navarre said it is confident that Funimation's sales will increase during the rest of the fiscal year. Navarre also said that Funimation's acquisition of the DVD and Blu-ray Disc rights to the Afro Samurai: Resurrection film will improve overall sales.