Atari halves losses to €9.2 million
Sales down as online accounts for almost half of business
Atari has recorded a first half net loss of €9.2 million ($13.6m / £7.8m) for the first half of the financial year, an improvement on the €23.2 million loss ($31.8m / £19.7m) for the same period last year.
Revenues were down from €68.5 million ($94m / £58.3m) to €29.6 million ($40m / £25.2m), with an operating loss of €8.5 million ($11.6m / £7.2m), compared to €19.9 million ($27.3m / £16.9m) in 2009.
Subscriptions from Star Trek Online and Champions Online generated online revenues of €12.9 million compared to €11.1 million, with online sales up significantly from 2.6 per cent of total net revenue to 43.6 per cent in this half.
In contrast, retail sales slumped from €50 million to €16.7 million, or 56.4 per cent of net revenues compared to 97.4 per cent last year.
The publisher launched its new online Atari GO service during the period, as it transitions from a retail to a digital business, and released Haunted House and Blade Kitten on XBLA and PSN.
Atari also lowered its full fiscal year guidance to an expected net loss of €8.5 million for the 2010/2011 year, compared to a loss of €26.9 million last year, blaming a soft retail market and "the increasing competitive environment in the online and digital console segments."