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The
hefty pay hike comes amid calls by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
for Japanese companies to pay workers more as inflation takes
hold in an economy used to years of deflation and stagnant
wages, and as Japan prepares for its annual spring round of
labour negotiations.
Fast Retailing Co Ltd, the parent of the Uniqlo clothing chain,
was one of the first companies off the blocks, jolting Japan Inc
when it said last month it would hike wages by as much as 40%.
"It's important for our long-term growth to secure our
workforce," Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told an
earnings briefing.
For companies that can afford to do so, higher salaries may also
help them attract talent as a falling birth rate and low
immigration leave Japan with serious labour shortages.
The creator of "Super Mario Bros" and "Legend of Zelda" cut its
operating profit 4% to 480 billion yen ($3.6 billion) for the
year to March 31, much lower than a Refinitiv consensus forecast
for a profit of 582 billion yen.
Nintendo also revised its annual software sales forecast down to
205 million units from 210 million, and cut its Switch console
sales target to 18 million units from 19 million.
The Kyoto-based company does not plan to raise software or game
console prices, but would consider doing so if circumstances
demanded it, Furukawa said. He declined to comment when asked
whether the company was considering a successor to the six-year
old Switch.
Nintendo, which competes with PlayStation creator Sony Group
Corp and Xbox maker Microsoft Corp, sold 8.2 million Switch
units in the latest quarter, a 23% slide from the same period a
year earlier.
($1=132.1200 yen)
(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Tom Hogue and Edwina Gibbs)
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