Nintendo profit falls 66 percent

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nintendo reported a 66 percent fall in quarterly operating profit on slowing demand for its Wii videogame console and a stronger yen, and stuck to its forecast for full-year a fall of 12 percent.

Nintendo, which competes with Sony and Microsoft in the videogame market, said operating profit came to 40.4 billion yen (258.4 million pounds) in April-June, against a 119.2 billion yen profit in the same quarter a year earlier.

The result compares with a consensus estimate of 74.5 billion yen from the average forecasts of three analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Nintendo reiterated its forecast for operating profit to fall to 490 billion yen in the full year to March 2010, ending a three-year run during which it nearly trebled its profit on the back of booming sales of the Wii and the DS handheld game device.

The company is now grappling with slowing demand for the Wii and increasing competition in the handheld business, including from Apple's iPhone. It has also been hurt by a stronger yen, which eats into its overseas earnings.

Analysts expect demand for the Wii to get a boost later in the year with Nintendo scheduled to launch major titles for the holiday shopping season.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne)