Post-Acquisition Warthog Shows Financials

UK-headquartered developer Warthog, fresh from the acquisition of its subsidiaries by Gizmondo handheld manufacturer Tiger Telematics, has nonetheless released its financial results for the 6 months ending September 30th, 2004. Ian Templeton, the Chairman of Warthog, comments in the statement that these results should be considered "of historical value only, and I don't propose to comment on them except to say that they underline the difficulties facing Warthog plc during that time which led to the TGTL transaction." The results reveal a loss from now-discontinued operations of UKP 1,740,717 ($3.35 million) for the six months, and an overall loss of UKP 2,420,138 ($4.65 million) for that period, as the company struggled to bring in new business or receive payment from existing publishers, and led to the largely stock-based acquisition by Tiger Telematics. That buy-out has led to Warthog PLC, essentially now without any other major assets, holding 497,866 shares in Tiger Telematics, currently worth around $12.5 million, although the company is not allowed to trade them for at least one year. Some of Warthog's notable previously-developed titles include Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and Battlestar Galactica. The now Tiger Telematics-owned Warthog development studios, which include subsidiaries in Sweden and Texas, are now working on creating games for Tiger Telematics' Gizmondo console, which is officially due out in North America during 2005, and apparently launched in Europe in the last quarter of 2004.