Take-Two Posts Quarterly Loss, Decreased Sales

Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two on Monday reported a swing to a loss and a decrease in revenues for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30. Those losses occurred even as Take-Two released high-profile titles L.A. Noire and Duke Nukem Forever during the period. Net revenue for the quarter was $334.4 million, down from $375.4 million for the same quarter a year prior, and below Wall Street estimates of $351.2 million, according to Reuters. GAAP losses for the period were $8.6 million, down from profits of $27.4 million year-on-year. Take-Two expects second quarter revenue of $70 million to $85 million, which is well below the $195 million in revenue Wall Street expected for the quarter, Reuters reported. [UPDATE: Take-Two shares were down 9 percent to $11.07 in regular trading and an additional 4 percent in after-hours trading, even worse figures than the overall market on a poor day which saw NASDAQ down 7 percent.] The company said digitally-delivered content accounted for $24.6 million of net revenue, up 49 percent year-over-year, thanks to properties like Red Dead Redemption, Borderlands, Grand Theft Auto, Duke Nukem Forever, Civilization and L.A. Noire. Take-Two previously announced that interactive crime drama L.A. Noire had shipped 4 million units. The game is also slated for a PC release this fall. While GAAP figures showed losses, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick opted to focus more on non-GAAP figures, which exclude one-off expenses such as losses from discontinued operations or legal fees. Non-GAAP profit was $2 million for the period, down from $40.9 million a year prior. Zelnick said in a statement, "During the first quarter, we delivered revenue and non-GAAP profits that were in line with our expectations." "Our results benefited from the launch of Rockstar's groundbreaking and critically acclaimed title L.A. Noire, the release of Duke Nukem Forever, continued strong sales of NBA 2K11 and Red Dead Redemption, and growth in digitally delivered content. Given our solid performance year-to-date and robust pipeline of upcoming new releases, we are well positioned to be profitable on a non-GAAP basis in fiscal year 2012." The publisher expects to report $1 to $1.1 billion in sales for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, comparable to the previous fiscal year's $1.16 billion in sales. Take-Two expects GAAP earnings per share to to be 10 to 35 cents. Zelnick added, "Looking ahead to fiscal year 2013, we have already announced three exciting new releases: BioShock Infinite, Spec Ops: The Line, and Borderlands 2, and we have a very strong pipeline of yet-to-be announced titles in development." "As a result, we continue to expect to achieve substantial revenue and earnings growth, including non-GAAP net income in excess of $2 per share."