Midway interim president and CEO Matthew Booty was on the job for less than two weeks of the publisher's first fiscal quarter ended March 31, so it should come as little surprise that the publisher's quarterly financial report details a ship not yet righted. The company today released its preliminary results for the first three months of the year, showing better sales than last year's first quarter, but also deeper losses.

　　Despite a lack of major North American releases, Midway's net revenues for the first quarter totaled $29.9 million, up from $11.1 million for the opening three months of 2007. However, the publisher reported losses of $34 million for the quarter, versus $19.8 million for the same stretch of time last year. The last time the publisher reported a net income for a quarter was the holiday quarter of 2004, when the bottom line was bolstered by the original NBA Ballers, Midway Arcade Treasures, and Mortal Kombat: Deception.

　　The company's releases for the first quarter of 2008 included a downloadable Stranglehold expansion and European launches of Unreal Tournament III, BlackSite: Area 51, Game Party, Cruis'n, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and the PC edition of Hour of Victory. Last year, the company had no new releases in the first quarter, but reported strong continued sales from the previous holiday quarter's hits like Happy Feet and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

　　Looking forward to results from the current quarter, Midway expects to post revenues of $18 million with a net loss of approximately $.38 per share (the company's first quarter loss came out to $.37 per basic and diluted share). The company's only release of note for the quarter is NBA Ballers: Chosen One, which has been released worldwide on the Xbox 360 and in North America for the PlayStation 3.