Nintendo halts losses

Nintendo Co. reported a net profit of $ 350 million for the fiscal year through March, a reversal from deep losses the previous year, as it reshapes its business with a long- delayed foray into smartphone games.

The result from the maker of “Super Mario” video games and the Wii home console was better than its own forecast for a $ 251 million profit. It was in line with the expectations of analysts.

Nintendo, which did not break down quarterly figures, reported a loss the previous fiscal year, as sales of the new Wii U machine continued to lag, falling short of company expectations.

It had reported losses for the two fiscal years before that, so the company was in the black for the first time since the fiscal year ending in March 2011.

Nintendo did an about- face recently and said it would make smartphone games, a segment it brushed off for years as irrelevant, insisting on machines that are devoted to games.

It announced in March that it would work with Japanese mobile game company DeNA Co. to develop games for mobile devices.

Nintendo’s sales for the fiscal year dipped nearly 4 percent to $ 4.6 billion.

Nintendo said it is expecting profit for the fiscal year through March to climb to $ 293 million, up 16 percent, as Pokemon characters and Luigi the plumber start arriving on smartphones and tablets.