Majesco results down again

When Majesco changed its stock ticker to COOL in April of 2005, the company's executives probably thought it would give their corporate image a bit of a hip cache. At the time, the company's shares were trading for more than $9 each. About the only thing Majesco has found cool since then is Wall Street's reaction to its flagging fortunes, as the company's stock has dropped to $1.21 as of the close of business today.

Earlier this year, the company cited its difficulties in establishing itself as a premium-game developer with titles such as Psychonauts, BloodRayne 2, and Advent Rising as a reason to withdraw from the premium-games market and instead focus on budget and handheld games. As part of that switch, Majesco sold off the rights to a pair of its licensed titles in development, The Darkness and Ghost Rider, for $8 million.

The company today reported its first quarterly results since the change in focus, and it appears any dividends of the move weren't quite immediate. For its first quarter of 2006 (the three months ended January 31), Majesco posted a $2.6 million net loss off $24.1 million in revenues. For the same quarter a year ago, the company raked in $30.7 million in revenues and lost $400,000.

Majesco attributed the lower sales to its turn away from premium console games, but noted it was offset in part by a new international distribution agreement. It also noted lagging sales of its video products, which include Game Boy Advance offerings featuring licenses from Disney, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon.

Chairman and Interim CEO Morris Sutton said the company was "pleased" with its performance this quarter and laid out Majesco's plan for the future.

"Going forward, our focus will be on enhancing our software-product lineup for the remainder of 2006 and 2007, continuing to reduce costs, streamlining our business, and actively seeking incremental revenue opportunities related to emerging technologies and peripherals," Sutton said in a statement.