GTA Franchise Helps Propel Take-Two's Fiscal 2002 Results

The good news was largely attributed to its Rockstar Games division, and specifically Grand Theft Auto 3 released last Fall, and its successor which came out last month, GTA3: Vice City. Revenue for Q4, which ended October 31, came in at $218.3 million, a 79% increase over last year. Net income for the quarter reached $22.3 million (54 cents per share), compared to a net loss of $4.7 million (13 cents per share) last year. Based on the strong sales of Vice City, the company raised guidance for the 2003 fiscal year to $950 million in revenue and net income of $2.20 per share, and raised guidance for Q1 to $355 million in revenue and net income of $1.14 per share. According to NPD, Take-Two was the second largest publisher of PS2 software in the United States during its fiscal 2002 -- it took in 16.2% of the revenue in that market. Take-Two was also the second largest publisher across all console software platforms, with a 9.5% of the total revenue. Besides Vice City, Take-Two shipped these titles in Q4: Conflict: Desert Storm for the PS2, PC and Xbox; Mafia and Stronghold Crusader for the PC; Smuggler's Run: Warzones for the GameCube; Spec Ops: Airborne Commando and Austin Powers Pinball for the PlayStation; and Duke Nukem Advance for the Game Boy Advance. This afternoon, shares of Take-Two are up 64 cents, or 2.5%, to $25.52.