Takara Co. on Wednesday reported better-than-expected results for fiscal 2002, thanks to strong overseas sales of its modern-day gizmos, like turbocharged tops.

After booking a one-time gain the previous year, the nation's No. 2 toy maker saw its group net profit slip 33.3 percent to 3.99 billion yen, but group operating profit soared 54.3 percent to 7.08 billion yen.

Group sales also grew 29.2 percent to 85.69 billion yen.

The company attributed its strong performance to brisk overseas sales, which nearly doubled to 14.96 billion yen and accounted for 18 percent of the firm's total revenue.

Demand was particularly strong in the United States for its toys marketed at boys. The firm's range of Beyblade modern-day spinning tops are sold in the U.S. through Hasbro Inc., the second-largest toy maker there.

Some 15 million Beyblades -- geared spinning tops that are fired out of a launcher -- were sold worldwide in fiscal 2002, the firm said.

The company said it sold 300,000 units of its Bowlingual toy, a canine collar device touted as being able to gauge a dog's mood by the tone of its barks, in Japan between September and March 31.

Takara is scheduled to release the product in South Korea in June and the in U.S. in the summer, and hopes to rack up combined sales of nearly 1 million units by the end of March 2004.

For the current year, the firm expects a group net profit of 4 billion yen on revenue of 100 billion yen. The company is 22 percent-owned by video game maker Konami Corp.