Nintendo announces record sales and profits

Nintendo has reported its full year financial results with another year of record sales and profits, based on continuing relentless hardware and software sales.

The company posted net sales of JPY 1.83 trillion (USD 18.5 billion) and profit of JPY 279 billion (USD 2.83 billion), a rise year-on-year of 9.9 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively.

While that doesn't compare to the huge rises of 73 per cent and 48 per cent from 2007 to 2008, the company noted that "the worldwide economy deteriorated significantly" during the past twelve months and that "the future of economies around the world is still unclear."

The results were thanks largely to ongoing consumer interest in the DS and Wii platforms, with the various DS editions selling over 31 million units in the 12 months to the end of March this year, while the Wii - despite signs of a slow-down in Japan - shifted almost 26 million units, breaking the 50 million barrier worldwide in the process.

Key software unit sales included Pokemon Platinum Version on 3.75 million and Kirby Super Star Ultra at 2.37 million for the DS - despite neither title being released in Europe - while Wii Fit sold 16.7 million units, Mario Kart Wii sold 15.4 million and Animal Crossing: City Folk shifted 3.38 million.

But despite another strong performance in the past financial year, the company has issued conservative guidance for the 12 months ending March 2010, estimating that sales will dip slightly to JPY 1.8 trillion (USD 18.2 billion) with profits up 10 per cent to JPY 300 billion (USD 3.04 billion).

The company's share price closed up 1 per cent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at JPY 26,820 (USD 272).