Infogrames Sees 24% Drop in Revenues

Officials from French publisher Infogrames, the parent company of the U.S. based Atari, have announced that sales for the company during the nine months ended December 31st have dropped by 24 percent. Results during the third quarter, beginning October 1st, saw total sales of €116.4 million ($151.6m), compared to €168.8 million ($219.9m) at the same time in 2005. A total of 70 percent of these sales were from the company’s European and Asian operations, with only 30 percent from the U.S. In keeping with standard French business practices the company’s other profit related results will be reported at a later date. Sales highlights for the third quarter were said to include the Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi series for the PlayStation 2 and Wii, Neverwinter Nights 2 for PC, continued sales of Test Drive Unlimited for the Xbox 360 and a strong debut for movie license Arthur and the Invisibles, particularly in its native France. For the full nine months of the current financial year the company saw revenues of €221.9 million ($289.1m), compared to €291.9 million ($380.3m) during the same period the previous year. The new figure does not include €4.6 million ($6.0m) of discontinued revenue from developers Paradigm, Reflections, Shiny or Melbourne House – all of which have been sold as part of the company’s restructuring process. The drop in revenues, in particular during the third quarter, was blamed on a significant decline in business by the company’s U.S. subsidiaries (Atari, Inc. and Atari Interactive, Inc.) as they completed restructuring plans. During the overall nine month accounting period Infogrames’ European operations accounted for 58 percent of all revenues, up from 49 percent the previous year. U.S. revenues fell from 42 percent to 33 percent, while Asian sales remained static at 9 percent. Sales by format showed that next generation console sales (Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS and Wii) accounted for 32 percent of the company’s total sales, with PlayStation 2 on 38 percent and the PC, including online distribution, accounting for 25 percent.