Take-Two suffers $55.5 million net loss in Q3

Take-Two's Q3 financials have shown a 68 per cent drop in revenue for the company for the quarter, with net revenue of USD 138.6 million compared to USD 433.8 million for the same period in 2008.

Net loss for the period was USD 55.5 million, or USD 0.72 per share, compared to a net income of USD 51.8 million, or USD 0.67 per share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2008.

The steep drop in revenue can, in part, be attributed to the strong performance of Grand Theft Auto IV during Q3 last year. And Take-Two remains optimistic about its release line up for the remainder of fiscal 2010, pointing to the several new titles from the GTA series that will be released - Episodes From Liberty City and The Ballad of Gay Tony for Xbox 360 and Chinatown Wars for PSP and iPhone - the latest NBA 2K and Borderlands. Meanwhile Bioshock 2, Mafia II, Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption are also slated for 2010.

"While the economy and retail environment continue to be challenging, we are optimistic that 'must have' triple-A and value products will be key drivers this holiday season," commented Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick.

"That said, we are maintaining a prudent approach to our business outlook for the remainder of this year and as we head into fiscal 2010. We will continue to invest our resources in initiatives that will enhance our industry-leading creativity and innovation."

For the nine months ending July 31 2009, the report recorded net revenue of USD 625.1 million, which compares to USD 1.2 billion for the year prior.

The company's guidance for revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter ending 31 October 2009 was estimated at between USD 350-375 million. For the fiscal year ending 31 October 2009 it was USD 0.98-1.0 billion.