Take-Two lowers financial outlook as profits fall

Publisher Take-Two Interactive has lowered its projections for the next two quarters and reported a fall in profits for its first quarter, which ended in January - but the company still hopes to meet expectations for the full year.

The publisher reported a net profit of $31.8 million on revenues of $375.5 million for the quarter ended January 31st, down from profits of $51.5 million on revenues of $411 million in the previous year - although last year's figure was boosted significantly by sales of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City during the quarter.

Aside from the obvious lack of a Grand Theft Auto title, Take Two blamed the decline in sales in the first quarter on poorer than expected performance of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.

For the second quarter, Take Two has dropped its forecast to earnings per share of 33 cents (it was previously 39 cents) on revenues of $220 million, due in part to a delay in the publication of Vice City in Japan. Third quarter projections now call for sales of $180 to $200 million with EPS of 12 to 17 cents.

However, Take Two still expects to meet its full year projections, with sales of $1.22 billion and earnings per share of $2.45 expected for the twelve month period. The fourth quarter, of course, will include the publication of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, completing the PS2 trilogy of Grand Theft Auto titles. The previous two games in the series have sold over ten million copies each to date.