DeNA Co., the country's biggest social-network website operator, is forecasting annual profit below analyst estimates as costs for labor and software suppliers rose.
Net income will probably be ¥32.6 billion in the year ending March 31, the company said Tuesday. A survey of 24 analysts found an average estimate of ¥34.9 billion.
DeNA also said it plans to spend as much as ¥10 billion to buy back 3.4 percent of its shares, which have dropped 20 percent in the past 12 months compared with an 18 percent slump for the benchmark Topix index. The maker of games for mobile phones boosted profit more than 20-fold in the past five years on the surging popularity of online and mobile video games.
Net income dropped to ¥6.1 billion in the three months that ended Dec. 31, compared with ¥8.2 billion a year earlier.