Atari Q3 Profits Down, Way Down.

2005 third quarter results were reported today by Atari and there was some bad news and worse news for the game company. Atari lost more than a third of its revenue as compared to the same period for 2004. Income was $156.4 million for Q3 2004 while Q3 2005 revenues totaled only $100.8 million. The worse news was that the first three quarters of 2005 showed Atari losing more than $62 million. In 2004, they were in the black with $14.8 million. As with other companies who have had to give reasons regarding their losses to shareholders, CEO Bruno Bonnell offered a familiar explanation used by others, "As we anticipated, during the holiday season the industry felt a depressed demand for current generation titles at retail and, as a result, publishers will need to strategically address the marketplace, balancing titles across multiple consoles, as well as portable devices.” Atari also announced that CFO Diane Baker had resigned her position to go on to other opportunities. In the corporate language of coded messages, Baker’s pursuit of “other opportunities” can mean a number of things: a better offer elsewhere, an imminent firing, or an intolerable working environment. Regardless of the reasons, Atari is probably looking to replace personnel in order to get its house in order.