Activision tops $1.4 billion revenues in record full year

Publisher Activision has announced record results for the 2005 fiscal year, with revenues up 48 per cent to $1.4 billion while profits rose by 78 per cent to $138 million - marking a thirteenth straight year of revenue growth for the firm.

The firm also recorded strong revenues for the fourth fiscal quarter, up 25 per cent to $204 million, although net income in that quarter dropped somewhat from $6.7 million to $3.6 million.

The firm's Q4 revenues were driven primarily by the success of its PlayStation Portable launch line-up in the United States, with both Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix and Spider-Man 2 faring exceptionally well, while further success came from the company's publication of LucasArts titles in Europe.

Along with its strong results, Activision also revealed an impressive slate of titles for 2006 - including one of the strongest calendar Q4 slates in the industry, with major franchise updates Call of Duty 2, X-Men Legends 2, True Crime 2,Tony Hawk's Underground 3 and Quake IV, along with a new Shrek title and new titles from Lionhead (The Movies) and Neversoft (as-yet unnamed) all due to roll out in time for Christmas.

Speaking in a conference call to discuss the earnings, CEO and president Ron Doornink also hinted strongly that the firm has a strong line-up of titles planned for the arrival of Microsoft's Xbox 360 later this year.

Commenting on the results, Banc of America Securities analyst Gary Cooper expressed the belief that Activision has the strongest hand of any of the publishers in this year's holiday season.

"Similar to EA, Activision back-end weighted its annual revenue and earnings, making 2005 holiday officially crowded," he noted. "Despite that, we believe Activision enjoys higher odds of achieving its 3Q06 guidance than EA does. This is due to the companyâs successful selling catalogue and proven well-branded games accompanied by conservative guidance, in our opinion."