Nintendo’s 9-month profit drops 9.4 percent as sales of hit Wii console slow

Nintendo profit drops as Wii sales slow

TOKYO — Nintendo, maker of the hit Wii game console, said profit for the April-December period fell 9.4 percent after a lackluster first half tarnished strong holiday sales.

Nintendo Co. reported Thursday a 192.6 billion yen ($2.1 billion) profit for the nine months through Dec. 31, down from 212.5 billion yen a year earlier.

Sales retreated 23 percent to 1.18 trillion yen, while operating profit tumbled 41 percent to 296.7 billion yen.

Kyoto-based Nintendo blamed a lackluster first half and a strong yen for offsetting robust holiday sales.

The company does not break down quarterly numbers. Its nine-month figures suggest a net profit of 123.1 billion yen and sales of 634.1 billion yen for the October-December quarter, according to calculations by The Associated Press. That would represent a 9 percent fall in sales, but a 82 percent jump in net profit from the same period last year.

Nintendo said it sold 17.05 million Wii game consoles around the world, short of the 20.52 million sold in the April-December period last fiscal year. It sold 23.35 million DS handheld consoles, down from 25.62 million the previous year.

Wii software sales fell 4 percent to 156.6 milion units.

It continues to forecast a 230 billion yen profit for the full fiscal year through March on sales of 1.5 trillion yen.

Nintendo reports earnings based on Japanese accounting standards.