Q3 profits surge for THQ on stronger Christmas sales

Publisher THQ has reported figures for the quarter ended December 31st, revealing a huge rise in net income and strong sales during the quarter, and announcing that it is set to publish another Disney/Pixar movie tie-in title.

The company, which was ranked as the second largest independent publisher in North America last year by NPD, reported sales of $293.1 million during the third quarter, up 35 per cent from last year's $217.8 million figure.

The publisher's net income also saw a massive boost, rising to $30.4 million from last year's $3.1 million figure, and it restated its guidance for the current quarter - the last of its financial year - which calls for revenues of some $90 million.

For the full year, THQ expects to post revenues of $608 million, with earnings per share of 84 cents - while in the coming financial year (2005), it expects its business to grow again, with revenues of $655 million and earnings per share of 94 cents forecasted.

That 2005 figure is conditional on a number of factors, including price cuts to both the PS2 and Xbox hardware (which seems like a safe bet), but will also be helped by the launch of a new movie licensed game based on Pixar's forthcoming movie, The Incredibles.

The only blot on THQ's copybook in this set of announcements concerns the highly anticipated combat simulator Full Spectrum Warrior, which has been delayed from its projected release date of late March. It will now arrive in June on Xbox, with a PC version following in September.