Infogrames Sees Sales Rise In First Quarter

Officials from French publisher and Atari parent company Infogrames have announced details of the business’ first quarter financial results, with sales up by 13 percent. As per normal French business practices, profit results will be revealed separately, but sales rose from €44.4 million ($60.6m) a year ago to €50.1 million ($68.4m). Europe accounted for 69 percent of all revenues (a 68 percent increase from the same time last year), with the U.S. accounting for 16 percent of the company’s business (down 51 percent) and Asia 15 percent (up 4 percent). The U.S. results are subject to finalization and filing of Atari's financial statements for the period. Sales per format saw portable consoles (primarily Nintendo DS and PSP) account for 35 percent of all revenues (up from 33 percent last year), with the PlayStation 2 taking 32 percent (up from 12 percent). As a whole, the Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 accounted for 20 percent of all sales (up from 4 percent) during the quarter and the PC 12 percent. Infogrames officials noted that the traditionally quiet sales period between April and August meant that revenues for the first quarter, ended June 30th, were “not indicative of anticipated sales for the rest of the year.” In terms of subsidiary Atari, consolidated net debt for the business now stands at €57.3 million ($78.2m). This does not include drawdowns under new credit facilities agreed with the Bank of America, which the company began to draw on before the end of the first quarter. The new credit facilities bring the aggregate debt available to the company to €68.5 million ($93.5m).