Operating loss lessens at Infogrames

French firm Infogrames Entertainment, the parent company of US publisher Atari, has announced its financial results for the half year ending September 2007 – the highlight of which is a drop in the firm’s operating loss, which stood at €29.3 million, down from the €36.9 loss in the same period last year.

However, revenues dropped from last year’s €105.5 million to €91.2 million this time. Gross profit also fell, from €44.2 million last year to €27.6 million. Operating income saw a loss of €40.1 million.

The negative figures were mostly pinned on the poor performance of Atari’s US division, which recently announced that it was to abandon development to focus on purely publishing and distribution.

North American revenue fell by 62 per cent – whereas in contrast European sales rose by 15 per cent, and Asian sales 12 per cent.

A statement from Infogrames added: The Group has substantially increased its spending on research and development, which was up 40 per cent during the first half of the current fiscal year from the same period a year ago, with the aim of building up its game catalog for the coming years.”