Take-Two Interactive's Q1 2005 Results Soar

Take Two Interactive has released its financial results for the first quarter of its 2005 fiscal year, the period which ended on January 31st, 2005. The three-month period covers the 2004 holiday season, during which their blockbuster PlayStation 2 title Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was available after its October 26 release. Due largely to sales of the new GTA game, which has already exceeded 12 million units sold to date, as well as the successful experiment with the 2K Sports (formerly ESPN) line of games at a $20 pricepoint, net sales increased 34% quarter-over-quarter from $375.5 million USD to $502.5 million USD. Net income also increased 74% over the same period in 2004, rising from $31.8 million USD to $55.2 million USD. Take Two revised its expectations for the rest of the 2005 fiscal year accordingly: the company now expects net sales to reach slightly over $1.3 billion USD for the year and $220 to $240 million USD for the third quarter 2005, which ends July 31st. Paul Eibeler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two, commented of the results: "Fiscal 2005 is off to a great start. We are extremely pleased with the continued success of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Rockstar's plans to extend the reach of this blockbuster title to multiple platforms and the Asian market later this year. Additionally, we have made significant progress in diversifying our business, building our product pipeline and adding to our sports game development capabilities." Planned releases for the third quarter include GTA: San Andreas for Xbox and PC, as well as an all-new Grand Theft Auto for PSP, also set in Liberty City, which marks the first confirmation that the PSP game will miss the system's launch. Other upcoming games are Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition in April and The Warriors in Q4 from Rockstar, and the next 2K Sports games throughout the year.