NEWS - Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Infogrames announces results
NEW YORK, Feb. 12 -- Infogrames, Inc. (NASDAQ:IFGM) , a global publisher of interactive entertainment software, today announced results for the first half of fiscal 2003, ended December 31, 2002. Net revenues for the six-month period, including publishing and distribution revenue, climbed 34% to $320.0 million from $238.9 million in the comparable year-earlier period. Publishing net revenues rose 43% to $263.5 million for the first half of fiscal 2003 from $184.8 million in the year-earlier period, while distribution net revenue grew modestly to $56.5 million from $54.1 million in the first half of fiscal 2002. Net income for the first six months of fiscal 2003 more than doubled to $30.8 million, or $0.44 per share, compared to a net income of $12.7 million, or $0.18 per share, in the first half of fiscal 2002. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) also doubled, climbing to $41.1 million, or $0.59 per share, from $20.7 million, or $0.30 per share, in the comparable prior fiscal period. Driving the Company’s performance for the first half were the results achieved during the second quarter: the all-important holiday season ended December 31, 2002. In that period, the Company reported net revenues of $210.6 million, up 31% from net revenues of $160.4 million in the comparable year-earlier period. Publishing net revenues for the second quarter of 2003 of $179.8 million represented an increase of 43% over publishing net revenues of $125.5 million in the 2002 second quarter. Distribution net revenues for the three-months ended December 31, 2002 decreased slightly to $30.8 million from $34.9 million in the prior fiscal year. Second quarter 2003 net income of $30.1 million, or $0.43 per share, marked a 147% increase from net income of $12.2 million, or $0.17 per share, achieved in the second quarter of 2002. EBITDA for the three-month period ended December 31, 2002 soared 119% to $35.5 million, or $0.51 per share, from $16.2 million, or $0.23 per share, in the comparable prior-year period. "At the outset of this fiscal year, we set clear goals for our company: improved profitability, a more strategic approach to the timing of all releases, and improved controls to insure the timely arrival of our products," said Bruno Bonnell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Infogrames, Inc. "Our first half results show that we are delivering on those promises. We had key releases on each platform and entered the holiday season with strong momentum which we sustained." Mr. Bonnell continued, "Looking ahead, the third quarter should be our lightest period with the fewest releases, as it has been historically, but we expect to counteract the off-season with the shipping of several key titles, including Unreal II: The Awakening and Master of Orion 3, among others. In the fourth quarter, we’ll release the greatly anticipated Enter the Matrix, which is slated to debut on May 15th in conjunction with the film release of The Matrix Reloaded. Our second-half release slate combined with our first-half performance should result in significant year-over-year improvement."Source: http://www.xboxaddict.com/
