Atari Announces June 1st DRIV3R Launch Date; Fiscal 2004 Third Quarter and Full-Year Guidance Revised; Earnings Release Date Set for February 2.Business Editors NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 2004 Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR), a leading global publisher and developer of interactive entertainment, today announced that it has elected to move the ship date of DRIV3R, the latest installment of the Company's Driver franchise, from the end of March to June 1, 2004. "The Driver franchise set the benchmark for the driving adventure genre, as the incredible legacy of Driver and Driver 2 has combined to sell more than 12 million units worldwide, said Bruno Bonnell Bruno Bonnell is one of the founders of Infogrames Entertainment SA. A qualified chemical engineer, Bonnell received a degree in economics at the Université Paris IX. He began his long career on the Thomson TO7, one of the earliest French-produced home computers, before founding , Chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Atari, Inc. "We believe that this additional time will give our marketing team the ability to exploit DRIV DRIV Drive (street type) 3R's full potential, meeting the high expectations of gamers, media and shareholders," he continued. Additionally, based on a preliminary review of results from holiday sales, the Company said it expects net revenues and earnings for the third quarter ended December 31, 2003, to be lower than its initial guidance provided in November 2003. Atari anticipates quarterly net revenue of approximately $190 million and net income between $20.5 million and $22.5 million, or between $0.17 and $0.19 per share. The Company is also revising its full-year fiscal 2004 results, based upon a number of factors, including preliminary holiday sales information and the shift of DRIV3R into the fiscal 2005 first quarter. Accordingly, the Company's fiscal 2004 net revenue guidance has been revised to between $460 million and $470 million, and net income and earnings per share are expected to be breakeven, prior to a $39.4 million one-time non-cash dividend relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc the Company's September 2003 recapitalization and public offering. Including the dividend, the Company's loss per share guidance is approximately ($0.40) on a GAAP GAAP See: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAAP See generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). basis. On November 3, 2003, the Company issued fiscal 2004 third quarter net revenue guidance between $215 million and $235 million and net income between $28 million and $36 million, or between $0.23 and $0.30 per share. For fiscal 2004, the Company's original guidance was net revenue of $560 million to $590 million and net income of $35 million to $45 million, or $0.36 to $0.46 per share, prior to the one-time non-cash dividend relating to the Company's recent recapitalization and public offering. "The strong performance of franchises such as Dragon Ball Z “DBZ” redirects here. For the meteorological term, see dBZ (meteorology). Dragon Ball Z (ドラゴンボールZ combined with a solid start for several of our holiday releases was unfortunately not enough to offset the underperforming consumer acceptance of other titles in our holiday line-up," said Mr. Bonnell. "While we are disappointed that our financial performance is below our expectations, we remain optimistic that, prior to the dividend, we will report breakeven full-year net income results on the strength of several new titles, including Unreal Tournament You can assist by [ editing it] now. 2004 for the PC and Unreal 2: The Awakening for Xbox; Trivial Pursuit: Unhinged on PlayStation2 and Xbox; and Backyard Baseball 2005 featuring Alex Rodriquez on PlayStation2." Mr. Bonnell continued, "Looking further ahead, fiscal 2005 will now include DRIV3R and several exciting new properties such as Transformers, Shadow Ops, Duel Masters, and Sid Meier's Pirates!, which will join a roster that will also feature new titles from our Dragon Ball Z, Dungeon Dungeon - Zork & Dragons, Terminator, and Backyard Sports franchises. It is a compelling release slate that we believe will meet the demands of the consumer audience." Atari will release its financial results for the third quarter on Monday, February 2, 2004, after the close of regular trading. Following the issuance of the earnings release, the Company will host a teleconference with a simultaneous webcast at 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss its quarterly results, the overall industry and outlook for the remainder of fiscal 2004. Participants on the call will be Bruno Bonnell, Chairman and CEO, David J. Fremed, Senior Vice President and CFO See Chief Financial Officer. , and Ryan Barr, Director of Investor Relations Investor relations The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. . To access the teleconference, please dial 1-800-901-5217 (domestic) or 1-617-786-2964 (international), access code 80574926, 10 minutes prior to the start time. The conference call will also be available live via the Internet by accessing the Company's Web site (www.atari.com). To listen to the live webcast, please go to the Web site at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available on the Company's Web site or by dialing 1-888-286-8010 (domestic) or 1-617-801-6888 (international), playback access code 68906341, beginning approximately one hour after the conclusion of the call and available through February 9, 2004. About Atari New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company's 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining games such as Driver(TM), Enter the Matrix(TM), Neverwinter Nights(TM), Stuntman stunt·man n. A man who substitutes for a performer in scenes requiring physical daring or involving physical risk. stuntman n → especialista m stuntman (TM), Test Drive(R), Unreal(R) Tournament 2003, and Unreal(R) Championship; and mass-market and children's games such as Backyard Sports(TM), Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues(TM) and Dora the Explorer Dora the Explorer is an animated television series that is carried on the Nickelodeon cable television network. A pilot episode for the series aired in 1999, and Dora the Explorer became a regular series in 2000. (TM), Civilization(R), Dragon Ball Z(R) and RollerCoaster Tycoon(R). Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary majority-owned subsidiary A firm in which more than 50% of outstanding voting stock is owned by the parent company. of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext 5257), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com. SAFE HARBOR Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. STATEMENT With the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain certain "forward-looking statements" that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this release are not promises or guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. We caution you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein. Some of the factors which could cause our results to differ materially include the following: the loss of key customers, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target or Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us (currently typeset as ToYsЯuS in the logo) is a toy store chain based in the United States, Canada, Australia,The Netherlands, South Africa, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. ; fluctuations in the Company's quarterly net revenues and results of operations based on the seasonality of our industry; delays in product development and related product release schedules; maintaining relationships with leading independent video game software developers; adapting to the rapidly changing industry technology, including new console technology; maintaining or acquiring licenses to intellectual property; the termination or modification of our agreements with hardware manufacturers; and other factors described in our SEC filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the year ended March 31, 2003, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. , and our Registration Statement on Form S-2 (as filed with the SEC on September 18, 2003, Registration No. 333-107819). The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations. |
|
||||||||||||

Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion