Nintendo Co. said Tuesday its net profit for the year ended March rose 13.4 percent from a year earlier to a record 490.60 billion yen ($3.2 billion), lifted by the success of the blockbuster film "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and a weaker yen.

Sales grew 4.4 percent to 1.67 trillion yen, thanks to robust sales of the "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" and "Super Mario"-related titles, the gaming company said.

The depreciation of the Japanese currency, which dropped to the 160 level versus the U.S. dollar to hit a 34-year low in late April, boosted sales by 94.4 billion yen as it inflated its overseas revenue when repatriated.

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie," which was released in April last year and immediately became the second highest-grossing animated movie in the world, pushed sales in its intellectual property and mobile businesses up 81.6 percent to 92.7 billion yen.

Total sales during the same period of Switch game consoles, which have been on the market for over seven years, fell 12.6 percent to 15.7 million units, while that of software declined 6.7 percent to 199.67 million copies.

The company said it will announce details of a successor model by the end of March next year.

For the current fiscal year, the firm projects net profit to fall 38.9 percent to 300 billion yen on sales of 1.35 trillion yen, down 19.3 percent.

Nintendo expects a decline in sales to continue for both Switch and its game titles, forecasting a 14.0 percent fall for the hardware to 13.5 million units and a 17.4 percent decline for its software to 165.0 million copies.

The company also expects the yen to appreciate for the current fiscal year, assuming that the currency trades at 140 yen against the dollar compared with the 144.52 yen it used for calculating its earnings for fiscal 2023.

The company also said it will open Nintendo Museum in the autumn of this year as part of efforts to increase its fan base. Various products of the company will be displayed at the facility, located in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, it said.

==Kyodo

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