Final Fantasy maker Square Enix reports quarterly profit

Japan\'s second-largest game publisher after Nintendo said it booked a net profit of 1.81 billion yen (21.1 million dollars) in the quarter, compared with a net loss of 1.67 billion yen the same period last year.

It saw an operating profit of 5.43 billion yen, more than nine times the 594 million yen profit from a year earlier, on sales of 32.4 billion yen, up 10.7 percent from the previous year.

"The first quarter was prosperous period as \'Dragon Quest Monsters:Joker 2\' for Nintendo DS became a million seller since we had launched it in April," Square Enix Holdings said in a statement.

"Just Cause 2" and "Final Fantasy XIII" which it launched in March in Europe and the United States also enjoyed brisk sales, contributing to profit, it said.

For the full year to March 2011, Square Enix forecasts a net profit of 12 billion yen and operating profit of 20 billion yen on sales of 160 billion yen.

Nintendo said last month it sank into the red for the three months ended June as the yen\'s recent strength ate into profits and as it cut the price of its popular DS handheld console.

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