Oli Welsh
17:08 (BST)
04/05/2007
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Mixed fortunes for Midway and Activision
Midway's Q1 results down but Activision had bumper year
In the latest round of financial results, Midway has revealed that its revenues fell in the first three months of 2007, while Activision announced record revenues for the same period, and its whole fiscal year.
Although its figures are preliminary, Activision expects to report net revenues of USD 1.51 billion for the year ended March 31, compared to USD 1.47 billion the previous year. That makes 15 consecutive years of growth for the US publishing giant.
For the three months ending March 31, the company expects to report revenues of USD 313 million, a huge increase over last years USD 188 million and the company's own projection of USD 200 million.
Chairman and CEO Robert Kotick highlighted better-than-expected performance of its Marvel, Call of Duty and Tony Hawk titles, and the succesful integration of RedOctane and its Guitar Hero franchise. He noted that Activision ended fiscal 2007 as the number two third-party publisher in the US. The company also projected revenues would exceed USD 1.6 billion in its next financial year.
It was a different story at Midway. Reporting on the three months up to March 31 only, Midway said its net revenues were USD 11.1 million, down from USD 15.4 million the previous year - and dwarfed by the Activision figures for the same period. It made a net loss of USD 19.8 million during the quarter.
Midway could take small comfort from the fact that it had beat its own expectations of USD 7 million in earnings, and losses were down from USD 22.6 million in the same period in 2006.
President and CEO David F. Zucker chose to look to the future, highlighting the recent, successful release of The Lord of the Rings Online, which Midway publishes in North America.
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