Sanrio’s sales, which come from products as well as licensing, have reflected Kitty’s fading fortunes, shrinking for 10 consecutive years since 1999. The company’s overall sales in Japan fell 3.3 percent in the 12 months ending in March, Sanrio announced Friday, as both licensing and sales of good slumped. Hello Kitty fatigue is hitting Japan first, and hard, the company indicated.

自1999年以来，Sanrio公司通过Hello Kitty的获利就一直在减少，包括直接的产品销售，也包括公司授权的衍生商品。上周五Sanrio通报，在截止到3月的过去12个月里，公司在日本的总销售额下降了3.3个百分点，也是包括直接的产品销售和授权商品获利，都大幅缩水。公司称，Hello Kitty首先在日本出现了市场疲软，而且是严重的疲软。

But a one-time 28 percent jump in overseas sales — which Sanrio attributed to an accounting change, as well as several big contracts overseas tied to Hello Kitty’s 35th birthday celebrations — helped the company swing back to a net profit of 4.37 billion yen, in contrast to a loss of 1.50 billion yen the previous year.

不过，Hello Kitty的海外销售额却一度跃增了28%，使得Sanrio公司去年的净利润达到了43.7亿日元，远好过前年的15亿日元的年度赤字。Sanrio公司认为，海外市场收益的暴增，主要原因有二，一是因为公司会计变更，二是因为去年是HelloKitty的35岁生日，这一庆典为公司赢得了很多海外的合同。

Sanrio now relies on overseas sales for 30 percent of its revenue, the company’s executive director, Susumu Emori, said Friday. But Mr. Emori was cautious about Sanrio’s future overseas prospects. “The last quarter was extraordinary, and we expect both sales and profit to fall this year,” he said.

执行部主任江守进（Susumu Emori）上周五指出，Sanrio现在有三成的收入要依靠海外市场，但是江守对Sanrio未来的海外市场前景表示担忧。“过去一个季度的情况非常特殊，而我们预计今年的销售额和利润都会下降。”他说。