Nintendo announces profit rise of 156 per cent

Nintendo has announcedits parent pre-tax profit for the fiscal half endedSeptember 30th is up 156.8 per cent compared to the same period theprevious year, to Y51.79 billion. This is attributed to the absence ofhefty foreign exchange losses it had a year earlier, according to a reporton the Nikkei Net.

For the same period the previous year, Nintendo had total foreign exchangelosses of Y51.7 billion. However, Nintendo’s parent revenue dropped 26.4per cent year-on-year to Y140.06 billion for the first six-month period ofthe current year, dragged down by the appreciation of yen against U.S.dollar and Deutsche mark, a company spokesman said. “Overall, game-relatedproducts sales were steady in the first half, especially in Europe. But theyen’s strength cut into revenue,” the spokesman said.

The company said sales of Game Boy and the Pocket Monster character-relatedsoftware grew globally. Its parent operating profit fell 56.4 per cent onyear to Y21.58 billion for the interim period on the decline in revenue andincreased sales-related expenses.

On a consolidated basis, Nintendo posted net profit of Y30.02 billion onrevenue of Y190.63 billion in the fiscal half. Inter-year comparisons arenot available because the company reported its group-based fiscal halfearning results for the first time.

Overseas revenue accounted for 79 per cent of the total, compared with76.7 per cent for the prior fiscal year ended March. Nintendo said aspecial loss of Y11.54 billion from an appraisal loss on its stockholdingsweighed on its group net profit for the first half. The company said itwill maintain an interim dividend payment of Y60.00 pershare.

For the full fiscal year ending March 2001, Nintendo revised down itsconsolidated earnings outlook because of the appraisal loss and expectedsluggish sales of its game console Nintendo 64 in the second half.

Nintendo cut its group net profit estimate to Y78 billion from its priorforecast of Y82 billion profit. Its group revenue outlook was lowered toY500 billion from Y540 billion earlier. The projections are based on itsassumption that dollar will average Y108 in the second half, the companysaid.

Last fiscal year, Nintendo posted a group net profit of Y56.06 billion ongroup revenue of Y530.67 billion.

News page content input by Dominic Robinson, 2000.