Northwood_DK
03-22-2005, 05:29 AM
http://reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7969018
Bono bid elevates Eidos shares (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?p=739733#post739733)
Shares in Eidos has surged 14 percent after a U.S. private equity group that includes rock star Bono agreed to buy the video games maker for 71 million pounds cash.
Shares in Eidos (EID.L: Quote (http://investing.reuters.co.uk/Stocks/Quote.aspx?symbol=EID.L), Profile (http://investing.reuters.co.uk/Stocks/companyprofile.aspx?symbol=EID.L), Research (http://investing.reuters.co.uk/Stocks/researchreports.aspx?symbol=EID.L)) , behind the Tomb Raider and Hitman games, reached 51 pence in early trade, higher than the 50p buyout offer. Shares sometimes trade higher than an agreed takeover price when investors speculate there could be a rival bid approach.
The U.S. private equity group Elevation Partners, which counts U2 singer Bono and former Electronic Arts president John Riccitiello as partners, offered a 27 percent premium to where Eidos shares were trading on March 18, the last business day prior to the announcement.
The shares hit a 10-year low on March 10 as delays to key new titles, tough terms on a bank loan and a first-half loss outweighed the market's speculation about a takeover approach. <!-- article text ends -->
<SCRIPT> var year = new Date() document.write('© Reuters ' + year.getFullYear() + ". All Rights Reserved." ); </SCRIPT>© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved
http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/21/technology/electronic_arts.reut/index.htm
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=580 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-TOP: 10px" vAlign=top>Electronic Arts warns on earnings
<!--startclickprintexclude--></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><!--endclickprintexclude-->Shares tumble 12% in after-hours trading after the company cuts full-year forecast.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
LOS ANGELES (CNN/Money) - Electronic Arts, the world's largest video game publisher, on Monday warned that quarterly profits would miss targets because older games were not selling as well as expected in North America and Europe and hardware shortages were cutting into sales.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->After the warning, the company's shares fell 12 percent and weighed heavily on much of the rest of the sector.
Electronic Arts' U.S. market share on a dollar basis is roughly twice that of its closest competitor, Nintendo Co. Ltd. of Japan.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->New releases were unable to offset a 'significant falloff' in sales of older, catalogue games, the company said.
Electronic Arts (http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?shownav=true&symb=ERTS) (Research (http://cnnfn.investor.reuters.com/Reports.aspx?ticker=ERTS)) said it now expects to earn between $1.70 per share and $1.72 per share, excluding one-time items, for fiscal 2005 ending in March. The company's previous estimate was for earnings of between $1.90 per share to $1.95 per share.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->Net earnings were forecast to fall between $1.62 per share and $1.64 per share, compared with a previous estimate of $1.82 per share to $1.87 per share.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->"We clearly underestimated the impact of the hardware shortages on our 4Q sales," EA Chief Financial Officer Warren Jenson told Reuters. He added that the company's fourth quarter titles were performing well, "but we had expected more."
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->EA said this was its first mid-quarter profit warning since going public.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->In a conference call, EA's chief financial officer Warren Jensen said senior staff at the company will not receive bonuses this year, though other employees will.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->The company singled out three reasons for the the anticipated shortfall. Primarily, it said, it underestimated the effects of the Holiday 2004 video game hardware shortage. (Retailers were regularly out of stock of Xbox and PlayStation 2 machines, as Microsoft and Sony were unable to keep up with demand.)
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->Also, momentum the company saw in its third quarter software sales did not continue into the holiday period. Similarly, titles released in the fourth quarter did not live up to expectations. The company specifically cited lower than expected sales of its "Need for Speed" and "NFL Street" franchises.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->EA president Larry Probst also acknowledged sales of competitive titles, including "Half-Life 2" and "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" have cut into sales. "World of Warcraft," a massively multiplayer game from powerhouse developer Blizzard, he said "has had an impact on everyone in the industry."
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->"Everybody in the industry has been surprised with 'World of Warcraft,'" he said. "I can tell you from firsthand observation that there are people who haven't played games in years who are now spending 15 to 20 hours a week playing 'World of Warcraft'."
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->EA shares fell to $58.63 in after-hours trade on INET after closing on Monday at $66.35 on Nasdaq. Shares in the top publishers and retailers were down about 5 percent to 7 percent in after-hours trade on the news.
Bono bid elevates Eidos shares (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?p=739733#post739733)
Shares in Eidos has surged 14 percent after a U.S. private equity group that includes rock star Bono agreed to buy the video games maker for 71 million pounds cash.
Shares in Eidos (EID.L: Quote (http://investing.reuters.co.uk/Stocks/Quote.aspx?symbol=EID.L), Profile (http://investing.reuters.co.uk/Stocks/companyprofile.aspx?symbol=EID.L), Research (http://investing.reuters.co.uk/Stocks/researchreports.aspx?symbol=EID.L)) , behind the Tomb Raider and Hitman games, reached 51 pence in early trade, higher than the 50p buyout offer. Shares sometimes trade higher than an agreed takeover price when investors speculate there could be a rival bid approach.
The U.S. private equity group Elevation Partners, which counts U2 singer Bono and former Electronic Arts president John Riccitiello as partners, offered a 27 percent premium to where Eidos shares were trading on March 18, the last business day prior to the announcement.
The shares hit a 10-year low on March 10 as delays to key new titles, tough terms on a bank loan and a first-half loss outweighed the market's speculation about a takeover approach. <!-- article text ends -->
<SCRIPT> var year = new Date() document.write('© Reuters ' + year.getFullYear() + ". All Rights Reserved." ); </SCRIPT>© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved
http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/21/technology/electronic_arts.reut/index.htm
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=580 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-TOP: 10px" vAlign=top>Electronic Arts warns on earnings
<!--startclickprintexclude--></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><!--endclickprintexclude-->Shares tumble 12% in after-hours trading after the company cuts full-year forecast.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
LOS ANGELES (CNN/Money) - Electronic Arts, the world's largest video game publisher, on Monday warned that quarterly profits would miss targets because older games were not selling as well as expected in North America and Europe and hardware shortages were cutting into sales.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->After the warning, the company's shares fell 12 percent and weighed heavily on much of the rest of the sector.
Electronic Arts' U.S. market share on a dollar basis is roughly twice that of its closest competitor, Nintendo Co. Ltd. of Japan.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->New releases were unable to offset a 'significant falloff' in sales of older, catalogue games, the company said.
Electronic Arts (http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?shownav=true&symb=ERTS) (Research (http://cnnfn.investor.reuters.com/Reports.aspx?ticker=ERTS)) said it now expects to earn between $1.70 per share and $1.72 per share, excluding one-time items, for fiscal 2005 ending in March. The company's previous estimate was for earnings of between $1.90 per share to $1.95 per share.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->Net earnings were forecast to fall between $1.62 per share and $1.64 per share, compared with a previous estimate of $1.82 per share to $1.87 per share.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->"We clearly underestimated the impact of the hardware shortages on our 4Q sales," EA Chief Financial Officer Warren Jenson told Reuters. He added that the company's fourth quarter titles were performing well, "but we had expected more."
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->EA said this was its first mid-quarter profit warning since going public.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->In a conference call, EA's chief financial officer Warren Jensen said senior staff at the company will not receive bonuses this year, though other employees will.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->The company singled out three reasons for the the anticipated shortfall. Primarily, it said, it underestimated the effects of the Holiday 2004 video game hardware shortage. (Retailers were regularly out of stock of Xbox and PlayStation 2 machines, as Microsoft and Sony were unable to keep up with demand.)
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->Also, momentum the company saw in its third quarter software sales did not continue into the holiday period. Similarly, titles released in the fourth quarter did not live up to expectations. The company specifically cited lower than expected sales of its "Need for Speed" and "NFL Street" franchises.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->EA president Larry Probst also acknowledged sales of competitive titles, including "Half-Life 2" and "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" have cut into sales. "World of Warcraft," a massively multiplayer game from powerhouse developer Blizzard, he said "has had an impact on everyone in the industry."
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->"Everybody in the industry has been surprised with 'World of Warcraft,'" he said. "I can tell you from firsthand observation that there are people who haven't played games in years who are now spending 15 to 20 hours a week playing 'World of Warcraft'."
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->EA shares fell to $58.63 in after-hours trade on INET after closing on Monday at $66.35 on Nasdaq. Shares in the top publishers and retailers were down about 5 percent to 7 percent in after-hours trade on the news.