Related News:
Nintendo Shares Fall in Osaka After First-Quarter Loss on Yen, DS Demand
Nintendo Co. fell the most in two weeks in Osaka trading after the world’s largest maker of video- game consoles posted a loss last quarter, citing a foreign currency-related charge and lower demand for DS players.
Nintendo dropped as much as 2.6 percent, its biggest intraday loss since July 16, and was 2.3 percent lower at 24,060 yen as of 10:14 a.m. local time. The stock has retreated 23 percent this fiscal year, compared with a 14 percent decline by the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average.
The net loss, Nintendo’s first in more than two years, was 25.2 billion yen ($291 million) in the three months ended June, compared with a 42.3 billion yen profit a year earlier, the Kyoto-based company said yesterday after markets closed. The game maker said it booked a foreign currency-related one-time loss of 70.5 billion yen.
Nintendo, which saw DS sales plunge 33 percent in the U.S. last month, said a lack of new game titles hurt revenue as it kept its outlook for annual profit to drop to the lowest in four years. President Satoru Iwata plans to introduce a 3-D model of the DS and a heart-rate-tracking “Vitality Sensor” accessory for the Wii console this fiscal year to revive earnings growth.
The company yesterday said the euro weakened to 107.81 yen in the quarter, from 124.92 yen as of March 31, while the dollar fell to 88.48 yen from 93.04 yen. A stronger Japanese currency reduces the value of Nintendo’s overseas sales and assets. Nintendo maintained its full-year exchange-rate estimate at 120 yen for the euro and 95 yen for the dollar.
First-quarter sales of DS hardware dropped 47 percent to 3.15 million players, while those of software dropped 23 percent to 22.4 million units, the company said. Nintendo released 168 titles for the handheld player in the period, compared with 278 games a year earlier.
To contact the reporter on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net.
Rate These Stories
Rate this Page