Shares in Japan’s Nintendo dive 18% after loss forecast

TOKYO, Japan – Shares in Japan’s Nintendo dived by nearly a fifth at the open on Monday after the gaming giant warned it would swing back into the red.

The shares were changing hands at 11,945 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, down 18.43% from Friday’s pre-warning close.

It later clawed back a bit of the loss to be trading down 13.38% at 12,685 yen around 20 minutes after the opening bell.

Nintendo said Friday it expects a loss of 25 billion yen ($240 million) in the year to March, reversing an earlier 55 billion yen net profit forecast.

The dramatic downgrade sent shock waves through a market where the yen’s recent depreciation has broadly lifted earnings of export-oriented companies. (READ: Tokyo stocks open flat)

It also stands in marked contrast to rivals Sony and Microsoft which have seen huge demand for their new consoles as the firms battle for control of a sector worth about $44 billion annually around the globe.

The company, maker of the Donkey Kong and Super Mario brands, also said it expected to sell just 2.8 million units worldwide of the Wii U, less than a third of it earlier prediction for 9.0 million consoles.

Nintendo’s hopes for big holiday season demand to boost flagging sales were dashed, forcing it to chop forecasts as demand for the Wii’s high-margin software slumped, it said. – Rappler.com