EIDOS TO UNVEIL INTERIM RESULTS
Copyright 2000 www.ft.com

[ November 27th 2000 ]

U.K. computer games maker Eidos Interactive will unveil interim results on Tuesday hoping to put a turbulent six months behind it. The London-based publisher behind cyber heroine Lara Croft and Chicken Run saw talks collapse earlier this year with a European competitor, widely believed to be French group Infogrames. The Eidos chief executive, Charles Cornwall, and chief financial officer, Jeremy Lewis, both resigned recently to pursue other interests. Its share price has slumped from a year high of nearly 1,000 pence to 176 pence earlier this month.

In common with rivals, Eidos also had to content itself with quiet sales as the industry gears up to deliver products for a new range of games consoles. Losses for the first quarter 2000 widened to 6.6 percent as it invested in four new games titles. The launch of Sony's Playstation 2 on November 24 is the first of the new generation of consoles. The company is pinning its hopes on Sony's latest release and many analysts remain upbeat for the Eidos' future prospects, although they believe revenues from Playstation 2 will take time to trickle down to the balance sheet. Analysts expect pre-tax losses to be around £25 million.