Konami Shares Fall After Delaying Release of `Metal Gear Solid'

Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Konami Corp., the Japanese maker of the ``Metal Gear Solid'' espionage action game, fell the most in almost four years in Tokyo trading after the company's delay of the latest installment prompted concerns earnings growth may slow.

Konami shares fell 6.8 percent to 3,160 yen at the 11 a.m. break on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, while the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.8 percent. Shares of Tokyo-based Konami had the largest drop since Dec. 8, 2003.

The company, which developed the game for Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 console, will sell the title in the second quarter of 2008, delaying from ``winter'' this year, Konami said yesterday. Earnings in the year ending March 31 were expected to be boosted by sales of about 1 million copies of the game, said Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co.

``Investors were active sellers today because of disappointment over the delay,'' Mitsubishi UFJ analyst Hirotoshi Murakami said by telephone from Tokyo. ``It may be the company's strategy to boost earnings next fiscal year with the game software.''

The analyst has a ``strong outperform'' rating on the stock.

Konami on Oct. 29 kept its forecast for net income to rise 13 percent to 18.3 billion yen ($159 million) this fiscal year, while sales are expected to climb 5.3 percent to 295 billion yen.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hiroshi Suzuki in Tokyo at hsuzuki5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at Ycho2@bloomberg.net.