TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the trending stories in gaming. In today’s results special: Nintendo profits fall due to ‘foreign exchange losses’; Electronic Arts results exceed projections; and Sega Sammy Holdings operating income increases by 246.6%.

Nintendo profits fall due to ‘foreign exchange losses’

Profits at Nintendo during the first quarter of the financial year have fallen by 45.7% year-on-year to JP¥16.6bn (£125.6m), primarily attributed to ‘foreign exchange losses’ of JP¥12bn (£90.8m). However, strong hardware and software sales, which increased by 13.2% and 25.9% respectively, led to a 2.4% rise in revenue to JP¥172.1bn (£1.3bn).

Interestingly, Nintendo has not altered either its overall fiscal year forecast, released in April this year, of JP¥1.25tn (£9.46bn) revenue and JP¥180bn (£1.36bn) profit. This is despite the low profits seen during Q1 FY 2020, and the upcoming release of the handheld Switch Lite console in September.

Electronic Arts results exceed projections

Revenue at Electronic Arts (EA) for Q1 FY 2020 has exceeded projections, having climbed to USD$1.21bn (£994m), up from USD$1.14bn (£934m). This is despite the lack of major releases during this period, with the growth attributed to the growing ‘Apex Legends’ community and a 55% year-on-year increase in expansion and game pack sales for ‘The Sims 4’.

In a press release covering the results, EA CEO Andrew Wilson stated: “We had a strong start to FY20, bringing rich new experiences to our growing communities for Apex Legends, EA Sports, The Sims and more,” said Wilson. “From great new games to live services with longevity, subscriptions on more platforms and competitive gaming for more franchises, we’re pushing to lead with innovation, quality and choice for our players.”

Sega Sammy Holdings operating income increases by 246.6%

Sega Sammy Holdings operating income has increased by 246.6% to JP¥3.4bn (£25.8m) for the financial year ending in March 2020, with sales rising by 5.7% to JP¥7.2bn (£55m). The ‘Entertainment Contents’ division of the business, which includes gaming, amusement machines, and toys, continues to be the most successful unit, with revenue increasing by 18% year-on-year to JP¥5.3bn (£40.1m), contributing to operating income gains of 195%.

New game releases were highlighted in the Sega Sammy Holdings financial statement as contributing to this strong performance, with further releases planned for the remainder of the year. The company also plans to “continue the optimisation” of mobile titles.