Strong box office boosts distrib Toho

Toho ups sales forecast; lowers net profits

By MARK SCHILLING

Boosted by a bigger-than-expected summer box office take, distrib Toho has upped its sales forecast for the fiscal year, which runs to February, but net profit has been revised downward from $78 million to $62.3 million.

 For the first half ended in September, Toho has raised its sales estimate from $458 million to $516.3 million while upping its operating profit forecast from $107.6 million to $132.2 million. Net profit is upped from $59.8 million to $60.8 million. 

For the entire fiscal year, Toho now expects sales to total $873.5 million, up from $812 million, while foreseeing a rise in operating profit from $106.7 million to $133.1 million.

Net profit, however, is expected to be less than the $78 million originally projected due to losses in stock holdings, as well as the construction of a theater complex in Tokyo's Shinjuku district. 

Megahits "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" and "Boys Over Flowers" plus new installments in the long-running "Doraemon," "Detective Conan" and "Pokemon" toon series boosted results.

Toho's other divisions, including legit theater, real estate and visual contents production, have also performed strongly.