Nintendo beat expectations with a surprise profit of $224 million (?24.2 billion) in the latest quarter as the weaker yen and stronger Wii U sales boosted the video game maker’s bottom line, the company announced Wednesday. The company also reported a surprise profit for the first six months of its fiscal year, which starts in April.
A weaker Japanese currency helps boost the company’s earnings when it sends money back from its overseas operations.
But despite a boost in operating profit to $86 million (?9.3 billion) in the latest quarter, helped by the company’s doubling the number of Wii U consoles it shifted compared to last year to 1.1 million, revenue fell due to the weak performance of the portable 3DS and software.
The success of racing game Mario Kart 8 in the last quarter was a major driver of growth.
A series of short films produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Mario franchise, were shown at the Tokyo International Film Festival this week.
Read more Tokyo International Film Festival
Nintendo maintained its forecast for a full-year operating profit of $370 million (?40 billion), but the Kyoto-based game giant is somewhat infamous for its overly optimistic predictions.
The figures for the latest quarter are calculated based on Nintendo’s half-year results as the company doesn’t release quarterly earnings.
Twitter: @GavinJBlair
