Better than expected sales for Take-Two

Key game releases have helped Take-Two revenues jump 54 per cent year on year for its second quarter – a better than expected result for the publisher.

The firm said today that net revenue for the second fiscal quarter ending April 30th was $268.0 million, an increase of over the $174.3 million made in the same period last year.

BioShock 2, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City on the PS3 and PC, Major League Baseball 2K10, and continuing strong sales of catalog titles including NBA 2K10 and Grand Theft Auto IV were cited as key sales drivers.

Income from continuing operations has also swung from a loss a year ago – up to $16.9 million from minus $10.4 million in 2009.

For the first sixth months of its financial year net revenue was $431.2 million, compared to $323.6 million for the same period a year ago.

Going forward, Take-Two has revised its increased its yearly expectations due to the success of Red Dead Redemption (revenues for which will be seen in its third quarter results) and the potential of an upcoming slate of games that includes L.A. Noire, Mafia II and Sid Meier’s Civilization V.

Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two, commented: "Our better than expected second quarter results reflect the solid performance of our triple-A titles and continued strength of our catalog business."

Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two, added: "The successful diversification of our portfolio and the ability to leverage our proven franchises has enabled Take-Two to strengthen its position as an industry leader.
"Our core business continues to gain momentum, and Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption is proving to be a hit. We’ll continue to build upon this success in the second half of our fiscal year with the release of several titles from our proven franchises, including Mafia II, Sid Meier’s Civilization V, NBA 2K11 and New Carnival Games."