Nintendo Co.'s net profit more than doubled for fiscal 2004, lifted by strong sales of its new portable game player Nintendo DS and gains from foreign-exchange fluctuations, the firm said Thursday.

The Kyoto-based firm, which makes the "Super Mario" game software and GameBoy Advance portable machines, said its group net profit surged to 87.42 billion yen, from 33.19 billion yen the previous term.

Sales totaled 515.29 billion yen for the year to March 31, up 0.1 percent from 514.81 billion yen for the previous year.

Japan's top portable game-machine maker said its mainline operations were supported by the debut of the Nintendo DS, or "dual screen."

Launched in Japan and the United States late last year and in Europe in March, its combined sales have climbed to 5.2 million units, it said.

The product has liquid crystal display screens that let users control game characters' movements with a stylus or their fingertips.

The instant success of the hand-held Nintendo DS helped offset the slumping sales of Nintendo GameCube consoles due to intense competition, the company said.

A favorable exchange rate also helped boost the value of the company's overseas earnings, as it posted 21.85 billion yen in foreign-exchange-related gains for last fiscal year -- a sharp reversal from 67.88 billion yen in losses it booked a year ago.

Nintendo keeps a large share of its foreign earnings in overseas markets to take advantage of greater interest income than in the domestic market.