Take-Two suffers $8.2 million second quarter loss
Publisher Take-Two lost $8.2 million in Q2 despite a rise in net sales, but highlights multiple upcoming Grand Theft Auto SKUs and a strong line-up for the transition to next-generation.
Publisher Take-Two Interactive has issued its results for the second quarter, and despite trumpeting a net sales increase of some 45 per cent year-on-year, it still reports a net loss of $8.2 million over the same period.
President and CEO Paul Eibeler played that down, saying the company was "pleased with the performance of our second quarter releases, as well as the continued success of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
The company released street racing title Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition on PS2 and Xbox during Q2, as well as Major League Baseball 2K5 on the same formats.
Shifting the focus to the future, Eibeler drew attention to the company's E3 line-up, as well as its next-generation and handheld portfolio.
"With eight titles already announced for Xbox 360 and more in development for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the PSP, along with our pipeline of products for the large installed base of current generation hardware, we are well on our way to sustaining a leadership position as we enter the next cycle," he said.
During three-month period ended April 30th, Take-Two's overall net sales were up to $222.1m compared to $153.4m in the same period of fiscal 2004, while six-monthly figures for the period ended April 30th had increased to $724.5m compared to $528.9m. All figures are US dollars.
The company reiterated its guidance for the fiscal year ending Oct 31st of $1.3-1.35bn net sales and $1.4-$1.47 in diluted earnings per share, reflecting the three-for-two stock split it completed earlier this year.
However it updated its third fiscal quarter guidance to reflect the movement of games from Q3 to Q4, including Grand Theft Auto for PlayStation Portable, which is expected to be a huge seller by both publisher and critics, as well as Call of Cthulhu and the PS2 version of tennis title Top Spin.
The company now expects $205-215m in net sales and a net loss per share of $0.05-0.1 for the third quarter.
Take-Two also said that while diluted earnings per share reflect the three-for-two stock split, they do not include the impact of adopting a financial regulation requiring the expensing of employee stock options, which it expects to begin adopting on November 1st.
Immediate prospects are promising, Take-Two said, with the Xbox and PC versions of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas due out within the next week in North America and Europe, followed by a PSP release of Midnight Club 3 on June 28th in the States.
In Q4 the company's Rockstar Games label will release film adaptation The Warriors, Bully - announced just prior to E3 - and the Japanese version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PS2.
Its 2K Games label also has a varied line-up, with Sid Meier's Pirates! for Xbox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Call of Cthulhu, Serious Sam 2, Vietcong 2 and 24: The Game and Conflict: Global Terror, which it is publishing in North America on behalf of Sony and SCi respectively. Sports titles NBA 2K6 and NHL 2K6 will also be released during Q4.