Profits up at Take-Two after solid Q3

Take-Two has posted better than expected results for the fiscal quarter ending December 31st 2010, with net profit up seven per cent year-on-year to $40.8m.

Net revenue for the period was down seven per cent at $334.3m – though this is ahead of the $300m prediction.

Year-to-date revenue stands at $954m, which is an increase of 80 per cent year-on-year.

Standout titles included Red Dead Redemption (sales of which now number of 8m), NBA 2K11 (4m unit sales), RDR: Undead Nightmare, GTA IV: Complete Edition and Sid Meier’s Civilization V.

Ongoing strong sales of the company’s Carnival Games range has seen that hit the 7m unit sales milestone.

Q3 returns on PS3 were significantly improved, climbing from just 18 per cent of total revenue in 2009 to 37 per cent now. By contrast, Xbox 360’s share fell from 45 per cent last year to 38 per cent. Wii dropped from 16 per cent to eight per cent.

Looking at the fiscal year-to-date, PS3 has actually overtaken Xbox 360 to claim a 40 per cent share (Microsoft’s console has 39 per cent).

For the quarter international sales share fell slightly compared to North America, though for the nine months ending December 31st international sales have increased their total share from 35 to 41 per cent.

"Strong holiday sales enabled Take-Two to continue to deliver better-than-expected revenue and earnings in the third quarter," chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick stated. "Our results year-to-date clearly demonstrate the company’s ability to translate its world-class creative resources and diverse portfolio of triple-A franchises into meaningful profits."