http://australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,21819698-15306,00.html
Wii bonanza for Nintendo Australia
Ben Woodhead | May 30, 2007
NINTENDO's Wii console has given a stunning boost to the company's Australian subsidiary, which almost doubled sales to $138.9 million over the past year.
The console, which was launched in early December last year, also helped to triple Nintendo Australia's 2007 net profit to $6.4 million despite being on the market for barely a quarter of the year.
The company's most recent financial year closed on March 31, but that was enough time for Nintendo to sell close to 70,000 Wii consoles. Almost half of those consoles were sold in the four days after the Wii was launched on December 7, 2006.
The launch of the Wii consoles and new software titles propelled Nintendo Australia's sales revenue to $138.9 million during its 2007 financial year, up from $71.6 million in the previous corresponding period.
Net profit jumped from $2.1 million a year ago to $6.4 million, Nintendo Australia accounts filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission showed.
The massive sales and earnings increases put paid to a stagnant period at the business, which suffered a slight slip in revenue between its 2005 and 2006 financial years and a net loss of $2.3 million during the 12 months to March 31, 2005.
The 2007 sales and profit rises were accompanied by an equivalent rise in Nintendo's cost of doing business here. The subsidiary's cost of sales shot up from $56.5 million in 2006 to $107.8 million.
Marketing expenses were up 68.2 per cent year-on-year to $10.6 million while selling costs leapt 169 per cent to $9.2 million.
The company made do with fewer employees in its 2007 financial year despite the surging growth. Nintendo Australia's headcount was 54 at March 31, down from 60 a year ago.
