日元疲软？ Nintendo gains from weaker yen New Feature Language Tools What is this? English Definitions English->Spanish English->French English->German English->Italian English->Portuguese Powered by Ultralingua By Pavel Alpeyev Bloomberg News Thursday, April 7, 2005 TOKYO Nintendo, the world\'s largest maker of handheld game players, said Wednesday that net profit last year more than doubled as a weaker yen helped increase the value of its assets in the United States. . Net income was about ¥82 billion, or $760 million, for the year that ended March 31, up from ¥33.2 billion the year before, the company said in a preliminary earnings statement. . Nintendo in January had forecast a profit of ¥70 billion. . The company, which gets more than 70 percent of its sales overseas, is benefiting from rising demand for its DS handheld and other game consoles. . The company is counting on the DS to maintain its dominance of the handheld game console market as Sony has launched its own portable game machine. . Shares of Nintendo have risen 3.6 percent to ¥12,250, the biggest gain since Nov. 12, on the Osaka Securities Exchange. . The company also said that it planned to pay a record annual dividend of ¥270, the first increase since fiscal 2001. . The company paid ¥140 a share in 2003. . Nintendo, which had $4.85 billion in cash and deposits on Dec. 31, needs to return more money to investors, said Christian Takushi, a manager at Swisscanto Asset Management in Zurich. . \"They have a lot of cash on the balance sheet and they need to pay it out,\" Takushi said. . Sony, the second-largest consumer-electronics maker in the world, started selling its PlayStation Portable in Japan in December and in the United States in March. The new model plays video and music as well as games. . The yen weakened 4.4 percent against the dollar in the quarter that ended March 31. . Nintendo held $4.85 billion and 726 million, or $934 million, in cash and deposits on Dec. 31, according to its fiscal third-quarter earnings release. . . See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune. . < < Back to Start of Article TOKYO Nintendo, the world\'s largest maker of handheld game players, said Wednesday that net profit last year more than doubled as a weaker yen helped increase the value of its assets in the United States. . Net income was about ¥82 billion, or $760 million, for the year that ended March 31, up from ¥33.2 billion the year before, the company said in a preliminary earnings statement. . Nintendo in January had forecast a profit of ¥70 billion. . The company, which gets more than 70 percent of its sales overseas, is benefiting from rising demand for its DS handheld and other game consoles. . The company is counting on the DS to maintain its dominance of the handheld game console market as Sony has launched its own portable game machine. . Shares of Nintendo have risen 3.6 percent to ¥12,250, the biggest gain since Nov. 12, on the Osaka Securities Exchange. . The company also said that it planned to pay a record annual dividend of ¥270, the first increase since fiscal 2001. . The company paid ¥140 a share in 2003. . Nintendo, which had $4.85 billion in cash and deposits on Dec. 31, needs to return more money to investors, said Christian Takushi, a manager at Swisscanto Asset Management in Zurich. . \"They have a lot of cash on the balance sheet and they need to pay it out,\" Takushi said. . Sony, the second-largest consumer-electronics maker in the world, started selling its PlayStation Portable in Japan in December and in the United States in March. The new model plays video and music as well as games. . The yen weakened 4.4 percent against the dollar in the quarter that ended March 31. . Nintendo held $4.85 billion and 726 million, or $934 million, in cash and deposits on Dec. 31, according to its fiscal third-quarter earnings release. . . See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune. .