Embracer slashes earnings forecast amid ‘darker’ economic landscape
Swedish video gaming group Embracer cut its earnings forecast and admitted it was looking at spinning off some divisions.
Shares plunged some 19 per cent after the holding firm said it was reviewing its business and mulling a spin off of a number of its companies.
The largest European gaming group acknowledged that the macroeconomic environment had become even “darker in recent months.”
Spin offs could take the form of companies becoming “separate publicly listed companies,” the group said in its half-year results on Thursday morning.
However, such moves would only be taken if “deemed to be the best for its employees, create higher shareholder value and improve our strategic flexibility.”
In recent months, Embracer has ploughed ahead with a flurry of acquisitions, such as the holding company that owns the “Lord of the Rings”.
However, “the world has changed for the worse in many areas, becoming darker in recent months,” chief executive Lars Wingefors (pictured) said on Thursday.
It trimmed its guidance for earnings before interest and tax for the current financial year from Skr9.2bn-Skr11.3bn to Skr8bn-Skr10bn ($758mn-$948mn).