Cooking Mama Helps Majesco Turn $2.9m Profit In Q1

Publisher Majesco has announced that it has seen first quarter sales rise 29 percent to $18.7 million with profits -- the first the company has reported in some time -- of $2.7 million, still spurred by strong sales of its Cooking Mama franchise. First quarter sales were up from $14.5 million the year prior, primarily from the release of Cooking Mama 2 for the DS, and profits rose from a $926,000 loss in 2007. The percentage of sales on handheld systems has risen from 63 percent to 77 percent of the total mix, with the Wii making up 20 percent of total sales. For the full fiscal year, the company has sale it expects sales of between $53-58 million, 59 percent of that from DS sales, and 40 percent from Wii titles. The company says it expects to release 28 games in the coming fiscal year, including 11 Wii, 15 DS titles and 2 games for other systems. In its second quarter, Majesco expects to or already has released Pet Pals: Animals Doctor for DS, Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship for the PSP, Eco-Creatures: Save The Forest for DS, Nanostray 2 for DS, Wild Earth: African Safari for Wii, and Toy Shop for the DS. It has also said that it will be releasing the Wii exclusive Rodney Alan Greenblat/Masaya Matsuura collaboration Major Minor’s Majestic March, Cake Mania for the Wii, and Our House for the Wii and DS in the coming holiday quarter. Said Majesco CEO Jesse Sutton, “Our strategy is working and we are executing on our business plan. We expect to continue to benefit from the improvements we have made in our operations throughout the rest of the year. Our new studio is open and is developing its first title, Our House for DS, which complements the previously announced Wii version and helps build our portfolio of intellectual property. We are focused on expanding the number of titles we publish and strengthening our retail distribution. Our management team remains committed to a disciplined financial approach, improving our profitability and driving increased value for shareholders over the long-term.” [UPDATE: In their conference call with investors, Majesco executives took care to note that its first quarter performance was especially remarkable as the year prior the company had released its much higher margin plug and play Strawberry Shortcake themed Dance Dance Revolution. Sutton also reminded investors of its new UK distribution deal with Codemasters, which will begin operation in the third quarter with Nanostray 2 for DS. Its current distribution deal with Eidos remains in place, however, and Sutton said Majesco was continuing to work with the company on Cake Mania and Blast Works. Finally, Sutton pointed out as a quarterly highlight that work had officially begun on its first internally developed title, the DS version of Our House, a compliment to its previously announced Budcat-developed Wii version. Sutton said the game "marks a solid step forward" toward building a portfolio of internal IP, and was a perfect "low risk opportunity" to grow an internal codebase.]