Nintendo posts $97 mn quarterly net loss on higher costs/AFP
TOKYO, July 30 – Japanese videogames giant Nintendo on Wednesday posted a $97 million quarterly net loss, as higher costs tied to sales of its Wii U console dug into its bottom line as sales weakened.
The Kyoto based company said its net loss for the three months through June came in at 9.92 billion yen ($97.14 million) on sales of 74.70 billion yen, down 8.4 percent from a year earlier.
The shortfall comes after Nintendo logged its third straight year of losses in the fiscal year ended March, underscoring the challenges faced by the one-time industry titan.
On Wednesday, Nintendo said it sold 510,000 Wii U consoles globally in the quarter, well up from 160,000 units in the same quarter last year.
The boost was largely thanks to the launch of the newest instalment of its popular racing game, “Mario Kart 8”, which sold 2.82 million units in the quarter, it said.
But the company suffered an operating loss of 9.4 billion yen “because total selling, general and administrative expenses including fixed expenses exceeded gross profit”, it said in a statement.
Nintendo left unchanged its forecast for a 20 billion yen net profit on sales of 590 billion yen for the year to March 2015.
