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TRADING AND RELEASE
SCHEDULE UPDATE
Copyright 2003 Eidos Interactive Press Release
[ January 21st 2003 ]
Eidos
Plc, one of Europe’s leading publishers and developers
of entertainment software, today reports a robust
performance during the Christmas trading period,
due in particular to continued strong sales of
the pillar titles Hitman 2 and TimeSplitters 2,
whose combined sales to date are 2.9 million units.
On 6 March the Company will announce its results
for the six months ended 31 December 2002, and
in respect of which the Company expects to move
into profit at the half year. A strong sales contribution
from the North American market represented in
excess of 45% of H1 sales, up from 34% for the
15 months reported to 30 June 2002.
The retail
discounting that has occurred in certain markets
over the Christmas period has not adversely affected
the Company’s margins. The Board is also pleased
to report a continuing strong cash position with
a positive cash flow in the period leading to
a net cash balance of c.£50 million as at 31 December
2002¹. Prudent management of the cost base continues.
The Company
has a very strong line-up of releases scheduled
for the second half of the financial year, including
Praetorians, the 3D strategy game, which has already
received favourable media previews, will be released
on PC format towards the end of February. Championship
Manager 4, the next edition of the critically
acclaimed Championship Manager series, will be
released on PC by the end of March. The later
release has enabled the Company to include a new
match play engine to further enhance the game
play experience.
Tomb
Raider: The Angel of Darkness, the next instalment
of one of the games industry’s strongest franchises,
will now launch exclusively on PS2 (for video
game consoles) and PC early in the fourth quarter
of this financial year. Significant progress has
been made in the final stages of development.
Management believe that the game will benefit
from continued game play enhancement, which will
require further time. The Board remains confident
in the opportunity to exploit fully this key franchise.
Given
the expected performance in the first half of
the financial year and the strong second half
release schedule of pillar titles, the Board remains
confident that the Company will meet current market
expectations for the year to 30 June 2003. CEO,
Mike McGarvey, said: "We are very pleased to be
returning the Company to profitability based on
the success of our ever expanding games portfolio
combined with the benefits of an aggressive cost
reduction programme which we have undertaken.
"Looking
forward, we have a strong line-up of new releases
for the second half and are optimistic about the
potential for our business to continue to deliver
improved performance. Whilst the release of Tomb
Raider: The Angel of Darkness has been delayed,
we believe that the game will benefit substantially
from the marketing of the new Lara Croft movie,
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, scheduled to
be released this summer."
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