Eidos pins hopes on new releases
Tomb Raider group Eidos was pinning its hopes on a series of new releases today as it showed losses were coming down across the business.
The fourth edition in the Lara Croft series is just one of a several computer and video games Eidos plans to bring out in time for Christmas.
New versions of shoot-em-up titles Timesplitter and Hitman and football game Championship Manager add to the “robust line-up”.
The group’s revenues have suffered from delays in bringing games to market and Eidos said it was throwing its weight behind the new releases.
Chief executive Michael McGarvey added the games should allow Eidos to “take full advantage of the opportunities that this growing market presents”.
Shares in the London-based business rose 3% as investors also welcomed signs of a further improvement in its financial performance.
Results for the 15 months to June 30 showed pre-tax losses fell 72% to £30.7m (€48.4m) as cost cutting offset a 27% drop in turnover to £128.9m (€203m).
Eidos is changing its reporting period to the 12 months to June 30 so it catches Christmas in the middle of its financial year.
Tighter controls on marketing helped operating expenses fall by 20.6% in the 15 months while gross margins improved to 58.3% against 50.8%.
Eidos reported figures for the year to March 31 in May and has released just one title since that date – Championship Manager 01/02 for the Xbox.
Mr McGarvey said: “Our results for the 15-month period continue to reflect many of the significant improvements that we have reported on previously.”
