Take-Two Restates, Reports Loss

Video-game publisher Take-Two Interactive(TTWO Quote) restated its financial results for fiscal 2006 late Wednesday and blamed the higher-than-expected loss on the video-game industry's transition toward next-generation platforms such as Sony's(SNE Quote) PlayStation 3, Nintendo's Wii, and Microsoft's(MSFT Quote) Xbox 360 consoles.

Net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006 was $14 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with net income of $18.9 million, or 27 cents a share, the year before. Analysts were expecting earnings of 13 cents a share.

The fourth-quarter loss included $5.5 million for legal and other professional fees associated with the investigation, beginning in June 2006, of stock option grant practices.

Revenue for the quarter ended Oct. 31, was $266.6 million falling from $306.8 million for the same period a year ago.

For the third quarter, Take Two lost $91.4 million, or $1.29 a share, compared with a net loss of $29 million, or 41 cents a share, in the third quarter in 2005.

Revenue rose to $241.2 million from $169.9 million for the prior-year period in the third quarter ended July 31.

Comparisons with year-ago periods reflect restated results for the fiscal 2005 third and fourth quarters and fiscal year, the company said. Results may not be comparable with analysts' consensus.

Take-Two said its results were affected by the delays in the availability and consumer acceptance of next-generation hardware, and lower average selling prices of the company's software for older consoles.