Majesco Entertainment today released its second-quarter fiscal results for the period ended April 30, 2009. Although net loss increased to $1.7 million thanks in part to increased marketing expenditures, the publisher's net revenues jumped nearly 61 percent to $20.5 million. Majesco's renewed focus on the casual marketplace is clearly paying off with titles like Cooking Mama and Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum.
"We delivered another impressive quarter as we continued to successfully execute on our business plan and capitalize on the strength of the family friendly, casual game market. Our revenue growth was driven by the continued strength of Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009 and our Cooking Mama franchise. During the quarter we launched Gardening Mama, our first brand extension of the Mama franchise, which delivered a solid performance and demonstrated the power of the Mama brand and its ability to extend beyond cooking,” commented Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer of Majesco. “As expected, profitability in the quarter was dampened by our strategic marketing campaigns as we made investments to support the growth of our franchises and most promising titles. We believe the benefits of these investments will continue beyond the first half of 2009 and help drive future growth. Despite these investments, for the first six months of fiscal 2009 we delivered improved operating and net income on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. For the first six months, our non-GAAP operating income grew $2.4 million or 83 percent to $5.3 million, while our non-GAAP net income reached $4.5 million, an increase of $1.9 million or 75 percent.
"As a result of our success to date this year, and the strength of our release schedule for the rest of the fiscal year we have increased our revenue guidance for fiscal 2009 to $80 to $85 million. We remain focused on prudently managing our costs and are committed to delivering profitable growth. We have a proven strategy, are executing operationally and believe we have the right team in place to continue creating value for our shareholders over the long-term."
It's worth noting that Nintendo's platforms have been crucial to the turnaround for Majesco. Net sales for the Wii increased $7.5 million (235 percent) to $10.7 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2009. Even more impressive, for the six months year-to-date, Wii sales increased $24.8 million (a whopping 359 percent) to $31.7 million. DS sales for the second quarter also increased, but by just three percent, from $9.0 million to $9.3 million.
