Nintendo reports rising profits despite flat full-year revenues

Japanese platform holder Nintendo has announced its financial results for the full year to March 31st, revealing that net profits grew by some 163 per cent to 87.42 billion Yen (645.8 million Euro) despite revenues staying essentially flat.

Much of that profit growth came from positive fluctuations in the international currency markets, however, with baseline operating profit only growing by 3.6 per cent, to 111.52 billion Yen (824.5 million Euro), on top of almost unchanged sales of 515.29 billion Yen (3.8 billion Euro).

Although positive, the figures were at the low end of analyst estimates - and Nintendo is predicting only modest growth for the coming 12 months, with operating profit set to increase marginally to 115 billion Yen (850.6 million Euro).

Sales of the Nintendo DS console during the current year are expected to hit 12.4 million, which is slightly higher than Sony's projection of 12 million units for the PlayStation Portable, and comes on top of 5.27 million units sold last year.

Software sales on the platform, meanwhile, are expected to hit 35 million units - more than triple last year's figure, thanks to the boost that will be provided by innovative new titles such as Nintendogs and Electroplankton, which Nintendo believes are pushing the boundaries of what constitutes a videogame.

Although Nintendo's stock fell slightly on the news of its results - which, although positive, are at the low end of analyst expectations - the company has been one of the most solid performers in videogame stocks during FY05, rising some 11.3 per cent compared to drops of three per cent for Microsoft, 2.1 per cent for Sony and 3.6 per cent for Electronic Arts.