After posting a decrease in revenues and a negative EBIT for the financial year 2001, Internationalmedia (IM) has announced that revenues in 2002 will be between Euros 330m - 370m and operating profit before goodwill amortization (EBIA) estimated at between Euros 21m - 25m.

"The budget for 2002 is based on cautious assumptions," underlined IM's new deputy chairman Caspar von Blomberg (pictured), pointing out that "for the first time, the annual budget is calculated on the basis of our adjusted accounting principles, which are designed to ensure more transparency than before. Accordingly, a film's revenues will not be booked before its theatrical release." IM's shares soared 31% to Euros 7.25 on the announcement, recovering nearly all of the loss they had suffered in the previous week.

As in previous years, the majority of IM's revenues (84.5%) will be generated by minimum guarantees and library revenues, while the financing fees on 8-10 films for a production volume of Euros 400m - 450m should contribute 7% of 2002 sales.

"Moreover, we can expect considerable overages for the first time," declared IM's newly appointed chairman and co-founder Moritz Borman. 8.5% of IM's estimated revenue for 2002 is expected to come from overages (compared to less than 1% in 2001) through profit sharing on such films as K-19: The Widowmaker, Traffic, Iris, The Wedding Planner and Sliding Doors.

In a telephone conference with analysts, von Blomberg suggested that revenues of Euros 500m were conceivable for 2003 given that the company will have three potential blockbusters - Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Bruce Willis vehicle Me Again, and Basic, with John Travolta - being released next year.