Nintendo turns in drab quarterly results after slashing annual forecasts

Reuters
A man looks at items and accessories for Nintendo Co's Wii U game consoles, as its 3DS portable game console software are displayed at an electronics retail store in Tokyo January 20, 2014. REUTERS/Yuya Shino

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nintendo Co Ltd posted lackluster results for its traditionally strongest third quarter on Wednesday after disappointing sales for its flagship Wii U console forced it to slash its annual forecasts earlier this month. The Japanese video games maker said its operating profit fell 6.9 percent in October to December to 21.7 billion yen ($211 million), compared to its most recent target for a 35 billion yen ($340 million) loss for the full year. The company said domestic sales of hardware and software were strong but that overseas sales sagged in the holiday season. Revenue fell 11.5 percent on the year to 302.6 billion yen in the October to December quarter. It cut its full-year sales forecast for the Wii U gaming console to 2.8 million from 9 million on January 17. The Kyoto-based company also said it would buy back up to 125 billion yen, or 7.82 percent, of its outstanding shares. Nintendo is due to unveil a new management strategy on Thursday, as it comes under pressure from investors to return to profit after warning it would post a third straight year of operating losses. ($1 = 102.7900 Japanese yen) (Reporting by Sophie Knight; Writing by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Dominic Lau)