UK's Oxford Metrics warns about annual loss on entertainment industry spending cuts
UK's Oxford Metrics warns about annual loss on entertainment industry spending cuts Oct 9 (Reuters) - British smart sensing tech firm Oxford Metrics OMG1.L warned about an annual loss on Friday, hit by spending cuts and studio consolidation across the film and TV industry and tighter research budgets, sending its shares 15% lower.
Here are some more details:
Softer film, TV and gaming demand delayed major Vicon contracts, which help developers create digital characters and visual effects
The firm said it would buy AI motion-capture specialist Move AI for £525,000 ($694,732) to boost the division and expand its AI-powered motion-capture offering
Move AI is a London-based developer of AI-powered technology for capturing and digitising human movement
Robotics demand remains encouraging, while location-based entertainment and parts of Asia continue to hold up better than established markets
Oxford Metrics expects annual adjusted operating loss between £0.5 million and £3.9 million, versus market expectations of a £3.0 million adjusted operating profit
Oxford Metrics counts film studios, research institutions and industrial manufacturers as customers
The company is accelerating its cost-cutting programme, including job cuts and the removal of lower-margin products
Shares plunged 14.6% to 29.8 pence as of 0712 GMT, hitting their lowest since March 2015
($1 = 0.7557 pounds)
(Reporting by Amna Mariyam in Bengaluru)
((amna.mariyam@thomsonreuters.com; +91 8448625620))