The group net profit estimate for the year (ending March 31, 2002) was sliced to 1.9 billion yen ($15.8 million) from 2.6 billion yen, but the company raised its first-half earnings estimate after healthy North American sales. For the six months of this fiscal year (ending September), Namco now expects group net profit of 950 million yen -- way up from its previous estimate of a 500 million yen net loss. For the full fiscal year, Namco lowered its sales forecast to 151 billion yen -- down 2.6%.
