Take-Two losses widen despite higher revenues

Take-Two has announced its financial results for the 2007 fiscal year, reporting fourth quarter revenues up over 10 per cent, but losses that more than doubled year-on-year to USD 15 million.

The publisher put those losses down to a combination of factors, including stock-based compensation of USD 9.3 million, professional and legal fees of USD 5.6 million and USD 1.6 million in business reorganisation costs.

On the plus side, revenues hit USD 323.4 million for the three months to the end of October, with robust sales of key titles and an increase in distribution revenue.

For the year overall the release of Grand Theft Auto IV helped the company to record revenues of USD 1.5 billion, up over 50 per cent on last year, with an overall annual profit of USD 97.1 million compared to a loss in fiscal 2006 of USD 138.4 million.

"Take-Two's record results for the 2008 fiscal year reflect the fundamental strength of our business model," said Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two. "Our performance has benefited from the strategies we've implemented during the past 18 months to unlock the potential of our creative talent, sharpen our focus on the core business, and take costs out of our operations.

"These actions were taken in the interest of creating long-term shareholder value, and we believe they have also better positioned the company to weather an increasingly challenging economic climate."

Take-Two provided guidance on first quarter revenues for fiscal 2008 of between USD 175-225 million, while the full fiscal year should net USD 1.1-1.25 billion.

The company earlier announced the retention on long-term contracts of key creative talent in Rockstar Games. Take-Two's share price remained flat at USD 12.07 yesterday, although after-hours trading saw it fall by 19 per cent to under USD 10.