Company Raises Full Year Net Sales and EPS Guidance
THQ today announced preliminary financial results
for the second quarter of fiscal 2007 and raised its net sales and EPS
guidance for the full fiscal year. The financial results and guidance
reported today do not take into account any adjustments that may be
required in connection with the previously announced ongoing review of
THQ's stock option grant practices, discussed more fully below, and
should be considered preliminary until THQ files its Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q for the second quarter of fiscal 2007.
THQ's fiscal
2007 second quarter net sales increased 68% to $240.2 million, from
$142.7 million a year ago, on robust sales of owned and internally
developed new original properties Saints Row
TM and Company of Heroes
TM, and continued sales of games based on Disney*Pixar's Cars, reflecting the game's wider international release.
The
company reported fiscal 2007 second quarter net income of $12.6
million, or $0.19 per diluted share, which included equity-based
compensation of $0.06 per share, related to the adoption of FAS 123
.
On a non-GAAP basis, excluding equity-based compensation expense, net
income was $16.4 million, or $0.25 per diluted share. For the second
quarter of fiscal 2006, THQ reported a net loss of $1.4 million, or
$0.02 per share. A reconciliation of non-GAAP results to GAAP results
is provided in the accompanying financial tables.
For the six
months ended September 30, 2006, net sales increased 26% to $379.0
million, from $300.7 million for the same period a year ago. THQ
reported fiscal 2007 first half net income of $518,000, or $0.01 per
diluted share, which included equity-based compensation of $0.08 per
share, related to the adoption of FAS 123
.
On a non-GAAP basis, excluding equity-based compensation expense, net
income was $5.9 million, or $0.09 per diluted share. For the prior-year
period, THQ reported a net loss of $5.4 million, or $0.09 per share. A
reconciliation of non-GAAP results to GAAP results is provided in the
accompanying financial tables.
Results Subject to Stock-Based Compensation ReviewAs
previously announced, the company received a letter of informal inquiry
from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC")
relating to its stock option grant practices. The company's board of
directors appointed a special committee which, with the assistance of
independent legal counsel and outside accounting experts, is
investigating the company's stock option grant practices and overseeing
the company's response to the SEC. To date, this investigation has
determined that the actual measurement dates for financial accounting
purposes of certain stock option grants issued in the past are likely
to differ from the recorded grant dates of such awards reflected in the
company's historical financial statements. As a result, the company
believes that it is likely to need to adjust the preliminary financial
information presented in this release, and to restate certain
historical financial statements to record additional non-cash
stock-based compensation expense and related cash and non-cash tax
adjustments related to past stock option grants. The company has not
yet determined the amount of such charges, the resulting tax and
accounting impact, whether the impact on its current financial
statements will be material, or what historical periods require
restatement. In light of the investigation, the company currently
expects that it will not file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
second quarter of fiscal 2007 in a timely manner. The company intends
to file this Quarterly Report as soon as practicable following
completion of the special committee investigation.
Business Update"THQ's
outstanding second quarter results demonstrate the power of our
balanced mix of owned properties and games based on world-class
brands," said Brian Farrell, THQ president and CEO. "During the
quarter, THQ's Studio System delivered two ground-breaking original
titles, Saints Row on Xbox 360 and Company of Heroes on PC. We have
established two significant new franchises that we view as important
pillars of our growth for many years to come."
THQ's holiday line-up will be led by WWE
SmackDown
vs. Raw
2007 on multiple platforms including the Microsoft Xbox 360
, a full line-up of Nickelodeon titles on multiple platforms including the Nintendo Wii
, Cars on the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii, Bratz
Forever Diamondz
, Destroy All Humans!
2, The Sopranos
and Warhammer
40,000
: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
. The company also expects strong sales of Saints Row and Company of Heroes to continue through the holidays.
"We
look forward to launching games based on our biggest brands this
holiday, including four titles for the Nintendo Wii," said Farrell.
"THQ's holiday line-up demonstrates our significant breadth of product
for gamers on current and next-generation consoles, handhelds, PC and
wireless."
The company reported the following second quarter highlights:
- Saints
Row was the #1 title by value in September according to The NPD Group
(NPD). More than one million units of Saints Row shipped during the
quarter
- Cars videogames ranked #1 in the UK for the quarter
ended September 30 2006, according to UK Chart Track. Cars has now
shipped more than four million units life-to-date
- Company of
Heroes was the #1 PC title by value in September according to NPD. The
game achieved a 96% rating from PC Gamer, the highest ever for a
Real-Time-Strategy game
- THQ is the #1 independent publisher on the Nintendo DS year-to-date, according to NPD
Financial GuidanceTHQ
raised its guidance for the 2007 full fiscal year and provided initial
guidance for the third and fourth fiscal quarters of 2007:
- For
the 2007 fiscal year, the company now expects to report net sales in
the range of $925 million to $975 million and net income in the range
of $0.95 to $1.05 per diluted share. This excludes forecasted
equity-based compensation expense of $0.18 per diluted share.
- For
the third quarter of fiscal 2007, the company expects net sales in the
range of $400 million to $425 million and net income in the range of
$0.69 to $0.74 per diluted share. This excludes forecasted equity-based
compensation expense of $0.04 per diluted share.
- For the fourth
quarter of fiscal 2007, the company expects net sales in the range of
$145 million to $170 million and net income in the range of $0.17 to
$0.22 per diluted share. This excludes forecasted equity-based
compensation expense of $0.04 per diluted share.
Non-GAAP MeasuresTHQ
makes reference to certain non-GAAP measures, including operating
income, certain expenses (including sales and marketing, product
development, general and administrative), net income and net income per
share for the second quarter and first six months of fiscal 2007, which
exclude equity-based compensation to allow for a better comparison of
results in the current period to those in prior periods that did not
include FAS 123
equity-based compensation. THQ's reference to these measures should not
be considered in isolation but in addition to results that are
presented as consistent with GAAP. These non-GAAP measures are provided
to enhance investors' overall understanding of the company's current
financial performance and the company's prospects for the future and
provide further information for comparative purposes due to the
adoption of the new accounting standard FAS 123
.
Specifically, the company believes the non-GAAP measures provide useful
information to investors by excluding certain expenses that may not be
indicative of its core operating results and business outlook.
News was posted/written by
Aaron Lockard, on Fri, 03 November 2006 16:02:31 , and has been read 2 times. It is filled under the following
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