Reuters
Great news for NintendoReuters said:TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nintendo Co. Ltd. (7974.OS) on Thursday reported a third-quarter profit that more than doubled, helped by currency-related gains and demand for its game software, and it kept its forecast for the full year.
Nintendo, known for games featuring characters such as Mario, Donkey Kong and Pokemon, has enjoyed a solid holiday season, particularly in Japan, due to strong demand for its DS portable game machine and games such as "Nintendogs," "Animal Crossing DS" and "Mario Kart DS."
Consolidated net profit for October-December rose to 55.56 billion yen ($479.7 million), according to Reuters calculations, from 21.3 billion a year earlier.
Operating profit was roughly flat from a year earlier at 63.17 billion yen.
The company said it still expected a net profit of 75 billion yen for the full year versus a profit of 87.4 billion yen a year earlier. The consensus estimate of analysts was 77.5 billion yen, according to Reuters Estimates.
Nintendo kept its full-year unit sales forecasts unchanged for DS, GameCube and Game Boy Advance devices and software.
The December quarter is a key period for Nintendo as consumers worldwide buy game devices and software as holiday gifts.
Shares in Nintendo rose 23.3 percent in the first nine months of its business year, underperforming the Nikkei average (^N225 - news), which rose 40.2 percent.
The stock closed up 1 percent at 16,380 yen on Thursday.
($1=115.82 yen)