Nintendo profits up 77 per cent

Nintendo has announced its financial results for the year ending March 31, revealing a huge rise in sales and soaring profits as the DS and Wii continue to prove popular with consumers.

Net profit stood at YEN 174.3 billion (EUR 1.1 billion / USD 1.4 billion / GBP 731 million) - a year-on-year increase of 77.2 per cent.

Revenues increased by 90 per cent to reach YEN 966.5 billion (EUR 5.95 billion) while operating profit was also up at YEN 226 billion (EUR 1.4 billion) - a rise of 150 per cent.

In a statement, Nintendo attributed the results to healthy hardware and software sales. More than 23 million Nintendo DS units were sold during the year, along with 123 million DS games. Figures for the Wii, which launched in December, stood at 5.84 million consoles and 29 million games.

Nintendo expects strong sales to continue, predicting global DS sales of 22 million units and 130 million games for 2007/8. The forecast for Wii is 14 million consoles and 55 million software titles.

The company also raised its financial forecasts for the year - consolidated sales are predicted to increase by nearly 18 per cent, while Nintendo said profits will be up by almost 20 per cent to reach YEN 270 billion (EUR 1.66 billion).