Nintendo declares sixfold rise in 9-monthly profits

Japanese games giant Nintendo has declared a sixfold increase in third-quarter profits, following a successful Christmas trading period for the Kyoto corporation’s handheld and home console businesses.

While hardware sales of its Wii U console remained sluggish, a string of high-profile releases across both 3DS and Wii U saw software sales increase significantly, with profits bolstered by a weakened Japanese Yen against the dollar.

The software and and hardware manufacturer, who enjoyed a string of successful releases in 2014 with the likes of Mario Kart 8, Super. Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS, and Pokemon Omega Ruby/ Alpha Sapphire, saw its year-on-year 9-month profits soar from 10.19 billion Yen in 2013 ($504 million), to 59.52 billion Yen.

As a result, the company has raised its annual profit forecast to 30 billion Yen (£254m million), up from its previous expectations of 20 billion ($169 million Yen). Last year, the company declared an annual loss of 23.2 billion Yen for the fiscal year ending March 2014.

The news is likely to come as a relief to shareholders after slower than expected sales of the Wii U failed to see Nintendo recapture the success enjoyed by its previous home console, the Wii.

Nintendo didn’t provide any quarterly breakdowns, or breakdowns showing the individual earnings of its product offerings. But significant increases in software sales throughout much of last year is widely seen as the reason behind the sudden increase. With The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D due to be released on the 3DS next month, it will be interesting to see what effect sales of that highly-anticipated title have on the company’s 4th-quarter earnings.

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Dale Morgan

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When Dale isn't crying over his keyboard about his never-ending workload, he's playing games - lots of them. Dale has a particular love for RPGs, Roguelikes and Metroidvanias.