Midway projects first profitable quarter since 1999
Publisher Midway Games has announced its financial results for the September quarter, revealing a major rise in revenues, and has updated its projections to show a profit in the current quarter - the company's first since late 1999.
Publisher Midway Games has announced its financial results for the September quarter, revealing a major rise in revenues, and has updated its projections to show a profit in the current quarter - the company's first since late 1999.
Revenues for the third quarter stood at $17 million, up 47 per cent from the previous year's figure of $11.6 million, while a net loss of $13.9 million was reported - a major improvement over last year's figure of $23.3 million.
For the fourth quarter however, which ends on December 31st, the company now expects to report net income of $17.5 million - marking the first quarter since Q4 1999 to show a profit for the publisher, and representing a key milestone in the firm's turnaround plans.
Midway has raised its full year projections off the back of its strong second quarter, and now expects to report $162 million in revenues (up from the previous projection of $157 million) and a full-year loss of $20 million.
These figures compare very fabourably with last year's, representing a 75 per cent increase in revenue and a massively decreased lass, as for FY 2003 Midway reported an annual loss of around $115 million.
"Midway's expected net profit in the fourth quarter of 2004 marks another important milestone for the company," according to CEO David Zucker. "We have effectively stabilised our base of operations to a point where we believe we can consistently produce high-quality games and market them successfully."
"The next two major steps that Midway faces in its turnaround process are navigating the challenging console transition in 2005-2006 and expanding the revenue base to achieve the size and scale necessary to generate consistent and significant profits coming out of that transition," he concluded.
Midway's plans for the current quarter include the launch of Mortal Kombat: Deception on PS2 and Xbox internationally, from which the firm hopes to realise significant revenues, with the only other title on the schedule being Midway Arcade Treasures 2.