Empire moves back into profitability

UK publisher Empire Interactive has announced its figures for the first half of 2003, revealing a move back into profitability for the company on the back of record half-year revenues.

Empire recorded turnover of £15.7 million for the six months ended June 30th, a rise of some 40 per cent over the same period last year. As a result, it was able to post a pre-tax profit of £228,000 - a turnaround from a loss of over £1.5 million in 2002.

The company's success was helped significantly by the strong performance of two of its key titles in the period, with 70's TV show based title Starsky & Hutch reaching number four in the UK charts, while Big Mutha Truckers hit number six in the US charts.

The company is now looking forward optimistically to the second half of 2003 and into 2004, and according to CEO Ian Higgins, Empire has an exciting portfolio of titles and intellectual property which will appear during that period - including recent license wins for Bad Boys II, Starship Troopers and Ford Racing 2.

"We now have an exciting portfolio of games and IP that we strive constantly to improve," according to Higgins. "We are working with some excellent development studios, both in-house and third party, and continue to partner with the best distribution companies to ensure every facet of the production process, from initial concept to sales, is as good as it can be."