SCi Stock Suffers Worst Drop In 18 Years

British publisher SCi, owner of Eidos Interactive, has seen its biggest drop in share value in eighteen years in London trading, following the announcement yesterday that it has ended all takeover talks and will post a loss in the 2008 financial year. The company’s share price fell by 61 percent to £0.52 ($1.02), subsequently rising only to £0.675 ($1.32). The drop left the company’s market value at just £65.1 million ($127.4m), despite assertions that takeover talks had been halted because valuations of £300 million ($587m) for the business were deemed too low. The predicted operating loss was primarily blamed on the delay of four titles, including Tomb Raider: Underworld, which has gone from a June release date on three formats to Christmas 2008 on six formats. As a result, the company has indicated it may need to raise extra working capital in the interim. According to a Bloomberg report a source has already been found, with the sum being requested being in the region of £30 million ($58.7m). The same report claims that the drop in share price may actually make the company even more open to acquisition, with analyst Rob Brent of KBC Peel Hunt suggesting that both previous and new bidders may now be interested.