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UK publisher SCi, owner of Eidos Interactive, has posted full year losses of $176.3m in what it calls a "difficult" year. The results are slightly above expectations though, with the company also planning to change its name to Eidos plc.

David Jenkins, Blogger

September 15, 2008

2 Min Read

UK publisher SCi, owner of Eidos Interactive, has posted full year losses of £99.1 million ($176.3m) in what the company calls a "difficult" year. The results are technically only preliminary, and cover the 12 months to June 30th, 2008. The results are actually slightly above expectations of a £100 million loss, but still more than the £13.3 million ($23.7m) loss SCi reported last year. Revenues were also down, from £128.8 million ($229.3m) last year to a figure of £118.9 million ($211.7m). The company also reported pre-tax losses of £136 million ($242m, up from £30 million ($53m) the previous year. However, the currently-unfinished sale of Spanish distributor Proein to Austrian publisher Koch Media should lessen this final figure. The company announced a major restructuring plan in February of this year, which called for a 25 percent cut in staff and a reduction in operating costs of £14 million ($25) this financial year. The publisher is also in the process of moving to a studio-led business model, with more focused teams concentrating on key franchises such as Tomb Raider and Hitman. Also announced today, the company will be proposing a name change to Eidos plc. at its annual general meeting in December. SCi bought original Tomb Raider publisher Eidos Interactive in 2007 and have used the name ever since, both for publishing games and as the company’s trading name. "The 2008 results reflect a year in which we took decisive action to transform our business. We have emerged as a stronger business and over the next year we will see the results of our restructured and revitalized operation. We are focused on delivering higher quality games with our priorities clearly set on maximizing the returns from our cornerstone franchises,” said CEO Phil Rogers. "We remain totally focused on and excited by the worldwide release of Tomb Raider: Underworld in November. Tomb Raider: Underworld has benefited from additional development time and a carefully choreographed build up to launch. In 2009 we will continue to see the benefits of our new structure to the releases of our games, which include Just Cause 2, Battlestations Pacific, Championship Manager 09 and Batman:Arkham Asylum. "Our commitment to improving quality across the business and securing strategic partnerships will be the key to unlock our full potential."

About the Author(s)

David Jenkins

Blogger

David Jenkins ([email protected]) is a freelance writer and journalist working in the UK. As well as being a regular news contributor to Gamasutra.com, he also writes for newsstand magazines Cube, Games TM and Edge, in addition to working for companies including BBC Worldwide, Disney, Amazon and Telewest.

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