By Kosaku Narioka
Nintendo Co. on Tuesday reported a 34% increase in its first-half net profit thanks to stronger sales of Switch software and a weaker yen, and raised its full-year earnings guidance.
The Japanese videogame company said net profit rose to 230.45 billion yen ($1.57 billion) for the six-month period ended Sept. 30 from Y171.83 billion a year earlier.
First-half revenue increased 5.2% from a year earlier to Y656.97 billion.
Nintendo sold 95.41 million Switch software copies in its first half, up from 93.89 million copies a year earlier, thanks partly to the blockbuster action-shooting game “Splatoon 3” that sold 7.9 million copies since its release on Sept. 9.
The company booked Y76.47 billion of foreign-exchange gains compared with Y1.80 billion a year earlier.
Nintendo boosted its revenue and net-profit forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 2023, citing in part the weaker yen.
It expects revenue to decrease 2.7% to Y1.650 trillion compared with its previous forecast of a 5.6% fall, and projects that net profit will drop 16% to Y400.00 billion versus its previous view of a 29% decrease.
Nintendo cut its forecast for Switch console sales this fiscal year. The company said it expects to sell 19 million Switch consoles, down from its previous view of 21.0 million units. It sold 6.68 million Switch consoles in its first half, down from 8.28 million a year earlier, as a shortage of semiconductors weighed on production.
Write to Kosaku Narioka at [email protected]
