Atari Halves Office Space, Gets Second Nasdaq Warning

Following last month's warning that the publisher was in danger of being delisted from Nasdaq, Atari has received a second notice, as it also discloses that it has amended its lease to halve its New York City office space and reduce yearly rent from $2.4 to $1.2 million. Atari announced that its first delisting notification from NASDAQ last month, as it had yet to file its Form 10-K fiscal 2007 annual report pending determinations on accounting entries on "certain severance matters." The company now has received a second notice as it has yet to additionally file its Form 10-Q quarterly report for the period ending June 30, 2007. The publisher has said it will use its previously arranged meeting with Nasdaq to attempt to settle both matters at once. In the meantime, the company has taken new measures to reduce costs in amending its lease with a new landlord to reduce both the size and cost of its Fifth Avenue offices in NYC by half. The company has disclosed in a financial filing that its lease will drop from $2.4 to $1.2 million a year, starting December 31st through the end of June, 2011, which will be raised to $1.3 million for five years following, and $1.5 million for five years after that. The last filed reports for the company showed losses of $71.3 million for the fiscal year ended March 31st, compared to a loss of $69 million in the previous year. In May, the company cut its overall employee count by 20 percent, including a 26 percent reduction in administrative positions.