Capcom Shares Reach 5 Year High on Games for Wii

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Capcom Co., the Japanese publisher of the ``Resident Evil'' video-game series, rose to a five-year high on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on expectations sales of titles for Nintendo Co.'s Wii consoles will boost earnings.

Capcom's stock climbed 6.3 percent to 2,855 yen, its highest close since Sept. 26, 2002, compared with a 0.5 percent gain in the benchmark Topix index. The Osaka-based company's shares have risen a total of 14 percent in the past two days.

The company, whose ``Resident Evil'' action game was among the top 10 titles sold in Japan and the U.S. in June, expects annual sales to rise 11 percent as it doubles the number of Wii titles to six. Chief Financial Officer Kazuhiko Abe gave presentations to investors in New York and Boston last week, focusing on new Wii offerings, spokesman Ryosuke Tanaka said.

``Resident Evil's Wii edition has continued to sell well,'' said Jay Defibaugh, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group in Tokyo who rates Capcom shares ``outperform.'' Sales of the game, also known as ``Biohazard'' in Japan, will probably exceed Capcom's shipment target of 620,000 units by March 31, he said.

Capcom's stock has risen 33 percent this year, compared with a 8.8 percent decline in the Topix index.

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