Nintendo reports worse-than-expected quarterly loss as Wii U sales momentum picks up slowly

Nintendo Co. sank to a worse-than-expected loss for the fiscal first quarter on lagging Wii U video-game machine sales.

But the Japanese company behind Super Mario and Pokemon games stuck to its annual profit and sales forecasts Wednesday.

Kyoto-based Nintendo reported a 9.92 billion yen ($97.3 million) April-June loss compared with an 8.62 billion yen profit a year earlier.

Quarterly sales totaled 74.695 billion yen ($732.3 million), down 8 percent from a year earlier.

Nintendo has been fighting to maintain profits amid competition from games on smartphones and other devices.

Nintendo has also faced questions about the health of its president, Satoru Iwata, who said he had surgery earlier this month.