Take-Two losses mount, but revenues exceed analyst expectations

Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two reported better-than-expected revenues for its most recent fiscal year, though the company's losses continued to increase. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, Take-Two saw revenues of $825.8 million, higher than the average analyst expectation of $817.5 million, but down significantly from the $1.14 billion the company saw in 2011. Alongside these figures, Take-Two announced a net loss of $66.8 million on a GAAP basis, as opposed to a loss of $22.1 million in 2011. Take-Two attributed part of this decline to Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption, which gave Take-Two a boost in 2011. The company did not have a game in 2012 that achieved similar success. Take-Two said its most significant games in 2012 included Red Dead Redemption, alongside more recent titles like L.A. Noire, NBA 2K12, and the ever-popular Grand Theft Auto franchise. Looking specifically at the fourth quarter, Take-Two pulled in revenues of $148.1 million, which beat the average analyst expectations of $139.9 million, but fell below the $183.2 million it made during that period in 2011. Quarterly losses reached $50.9 million, compared to $14.4 million year over year. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told investors that another factor behind the year and quarter's declining revenues was the fact that the company has been forced to delay a number of its most notable titles over the past several months. Coinciding with this announcement, the company noted that its upcoming shooter XCOM has been pushed back all the way until the 2014 fiscal year, ending March 2014. The Firaxis-developed strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, meanwhile, is due to launch this October. Looking ahead to 2013, Take-Two said that it expects to see revenues in the first quarter to reach $225 to $275 million, and yearly revenues are expected to hit 1.75 to $1.85 billion. The company has a number of major titles in the pipe for the upcoming fiscal year, including Borderlands 2, Bioshock Infinite, and Spec Ops: The Line. The newest title from Rockstar -- Grand Theft Auto V -- does not yet have a target launch window.