CloudEngineer Posted December 12, 2002 Share Posted December 12, 2002 Acclaim Entertainment Inc. said it closed a Salt Lake City development studio in a consolidation move, idling 79 employees and resulting in a total of $6 million in charges to second-quarter earnings, according to an SEC filing last week.Separately today, UBS Warburg analyst Mike Wallace cut his rating on Glen Cove-based Acclaim to ?reduce? from ?hold,? and the stock is down 18 cents to 0.91, or 16 percent, apparently on the ratings cut. Acclaim, which said in its annual report Aug. 31 that it planned to ?significantly reduce? headcount this year, said the Salt Lake closure and other layoffs contributed to a total workforce reduction of more than 100 people since then. It now has around 600 employees, down from 708, or 15 percent, since August 31, 2002, according to the filing. Acclaim said it is "continuing to review further worldwide cost-saving initiatives.? The filing said Acclaim plans to consolidate all of its domestic internal product development to a facility in Austin, Texas. It was unclear from the filing which other facilities might be consolidated, or how many additional workers it might affect. Two titles are under development at the Salt Lake City facility; one will be discontinued, while the other, Legends of Wrestling III, will be moved to Austin. Acclaim said it will take a $1.5 million second-quarter charge to cover costs associated with the discontinued title. Another $4.5 million in second-quarter charges are the result of severance and facility-related write-downs, the company said. Last week, Acclaim said it hired five new executives to its upper ranks, beefing up its team in areas such as licensing, sales and legal. View: Acclaim Shuts Studio, Analyst Cuts Stock Article Source: NewsDay.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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