Gutspiller
05-07-2004, 02:39 PM
Infogrames Entertainment SA, Europe's biggest video-game maker, said full-year sales declined 22 percent, hurt by the weakness of the dollar against the euro and by a delay in the release of one of its games.
Sales for the year to March 31 amounted to 701 million euros ($844 million), down from 898 million euros a year earlier, the company said in a notice published in Les Echos. The dollar's weakness wiped 11 percent off sales, according to the statement.
Fourth-quarter sales totaled 105 million euros. The company predicts ``moderate'' sales growth in fiscal 2004-05.
Shares in the company jumped as much as 12.6 percent to 2.95 euros and traded at 2.87 euros as of 9:23 a.m. in Paris. Before today, the stock had slumped 52 percent in a year.
Infogrames said in January that its Driver game, featuring the streets of Nice, Miami and Istanbul, will go on sale on June 1, two months later than scheduled. Revenue from the game, which was to have been booked in the fourth quarter, will be delayed until the first quarter of the next fiscal year.
Chief Executive Officer Bruno Bonnell denied in an interview with Investir magazine today that the company will be unable to repay its debt. Infogrames shares fell 9.7 percent in Paris yesterday to their lowest since April 2003.
Bloomberg.com (http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aIJsyxu9HFZA&refer=europe)
Sales for the year to March 31 amounted to 701 million euros ($844 million), down from 898 million euros a year earlier, the company said in a notice published in Les Echos. The dollar's weakness wiped 11 percent off sales, according to the statement.
Fourth-quarter sales totaled 105 million euros. The company predicts ``moderate'' sales growth in fiscal 2004-05.
Shares in the company jumped as much as 12.6 percent to 2.95 euros and traded at 2.87 euros as of 9:23 a.m. in Paris. Before today, the stock had slumped 52 percent in a year.
Infogrames said in January that its Driver game, featuring the streets of Nice, Miami and Istanbul, will go on sale on June 1, two months later than scheduled. Revenue from the game, which was to have been booked in the fourth quarter, will be delayed until the first quarter of the next fiscal year.
Chief Executive Officer Bruno Bonnell denied in an interview with Investir magazine today that the company will be unable to repay its debt. Infogrames shares fell 9.7 percent in Paris yesterday to their lowest since April 2003.
Bloomberg.com (http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aIJsyxu9HFZA&refer=europe)