STARLET LARA FLOUNDERS CATALOGUE
Copyright 2001 money.telepraph.co.uk

[ September 21st 2001 ]

Lara Croft's summer cinematic debut failed to boost sales of Eidos's back catalogue of Tomb Raider computer games, the company said as it announced its quarterly results yesterday. Finance director Stuart Cruickshank said revenues from old Tomb Raider games which star Lara Croft, had improved after the film was released in the United States in June, but he added that the improvement was not material.

Eidos decided not to release a new Tomb Raider game along with the film, a decision Mr Cruickshank said was "easy to judge in hindsight". He said: "The film added to brand awareness, which will show through when the next games in the series are released."

The company cut losses by 31 per cent to £15.3 million in its, usually weak, first quarter ending June 30. The improvement came despite a 27 per cent fall-off in sales to £12.2 million, caused also by the delayed launch of the World War Two action game Commandos 2: Men of Courage.

Eidos said it could not predict the impact the tragic events in America would have on its business, but stated that before last week the games market had shown signs of improvement. The shares closed down 10.25 at 191.5p.