Majesco Q2 revenue up 60.8%, but losses hit $1.7 million

In July 2005, Majesco was peering down into a financial abyss, but now it's looking forward to further increases in revenue. After attaining profitability during its last fiscal year, the company now reports a spike in revenue for the second quarter of its current fiscal year, which ends October 27. Majesco released today that its February-April quarter net revenues have increased 60.8 percent to $20.5 million, as compared to $12.8 million in the same period in 2008. However, burdensome costs forced the company to report a net loss of $1.7 million for the quarter. In the same period last year, the company reported a net loss of $257,000.

In the 2008 fiscal year, the company posted a net profit of $2.1 million on revenues of $63.9 million. For its current fiscal year, the company is predicting an even rosier picture.

"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," said company CEO Jesse Sutton, who was named to the company's highest position in 2007.

Sutton blamed the increased net loss on the company's "strategic marketing campaigns" and investments on its "most promising" titles and franchises. "We believe the benefits of these investments will continue beyond the first half of 2009 and help drive future growth," he said.

The Majesco executive attributed the company's increased revenue to its sales of Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009 and the Cooking Mama franchise. Domestically, the multiplatinum culinary franchise has topped 4 million sold. Moreover, according to the NPD Group, Majesco has sold more than 600,000 copies of Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009.

Since 2005, Majesco has reshaped its company. That year, its CEO, Carl Yankowski, resigned after stocks plummeted over 50 percent following a sharp downgrade of its financial outlook. After being threatened with stock-market delisting, the company righted itself by focusing on games for the DS and Wii.