Nintendo halves operating profit view on slack 3DS sales; weak yen lifts net profit

- Struggling Japanese video game maker Nintendo Co warned it won't make its annual operating profit target due to slack sales of its 3DS handheld game consoles, though the yen's current weakness means overseas sales will boost net profit.

Reporting a return to profit in the nine months ended December, Osaka-based Nintendo on Wednesday halved its operating earnings target for the fiscal year through March to 20 billion yen ($169.46 million) from 40 billion yen.

But citing the foreign exchange windfall, Nintendo upped its net profit forecast by 50 percent to 30 billion yen. The weaker yen means sales in the United States and Europe are now worth significantly more when translated into the Japanese currency.

Though reduced, an annual operating profit would still be Nintendo's first in four years. Citing improving sales in the United States and Europe in the six months ended last September, Chief Executive Satoru Iwata had said at the end of October that the company's target was "fully achievable".

In the nine months ended December, Nintendo booked an operating profit of 31.6 billion yen compared with an operating loss of 1.58 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

($1 = 118.0200 yen)