Nintendo To Miss Sales Targets

Officials from Nintendo have announced results for the company in the nine month period to December 31, which shows an operating profit of ¥102.6 billion ($967.6m). Sales reached ¥439.6 billion ($4.1bn) with a net profit of ¥34.6 billion ($326.3m). The company’s quarterly results show an operating profit of ¥73.86 billion ($695.5m). However the company has slashed its net profit estimate for the full year to ¥54 billion ($509m) from a November forecast of ¥60 billon ($566m), saying that it would book a non-operating currency-related loss of ¥57.7 billion ($544m) because of the strength of the yen. Revenues were also cut by 7.3% to ¥510 billion ($4.8bn) from ¥550 billion ($5.2bn), with its 2003/04 recurring profit target dropped to ¥85 billion ($801m) from ¥95 billion ($896m). The most embarrassing news for the company is that it now predicts that it will miss sales targets for the GameCube by one million units and the Game Boy Advance by two million. Earlier last year such a result was widely expected but as recently as January 8th, company president Satoru Iwata claimed that the targets would be met. However despite these disappointments the company is refusing to revise its full-year profit and revenue estimates. Source: Reuters