Profits Double For Nintendo On DS Success

Officials from Nintendo have announced the company’s third quarter results, with profits more than doubling for the company, from ¥21.3 billion ($183.7m) in the same period in 2004 to ¥55.66 billion ($480.3m) in 2005, thanks to continued strong sales of the Nintendo DS handheld, specifically in Japan but also elsewhere in the world. Operating profit for the company was roughly flat compared to the previous year at ¥63.17 billion ($544.9m). Following these positive results, the company has kept to its full year estimates of a net profit of ¥75 billion ($646.9m), compared to ¥87.4 billion ($754.0m) a year earlier. The company has also kept its full year unit sales forecasts for the Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance and GameCube unchanged, despite poor sales of the latter contributing to disappointing results in previous quarters this year. Software sales during the all-important Christmas sales period were said to be strong, but as normal the company’s vacillating profits were equally influenced by its enormous foreign currency holdings, with an overall war chest now estimated to be worth close to $10 billion. Share in the company closed up 1 percent at ¥16,380 ($141.3) on Thursday. Overall, over the first nine months of the current financial year, shares in Nintendo have risen an impressive 23.3 percent.