IM Internationalmedia pledged to return to profit this year as it announced a loss of Euros 11.9m for 2001 on Thursday.

The battered Neuer Markt-listed parent of Intermedia blamed the loss on one-time costs such as the aborted SpyGlass Entertainment merger and delays in booking revenues from K19: The Widowmaker, Adaptation and Ali. Before issuing two profit warnings, the company had originally predicted an EBIT of Euros 47m.

"The fact is that in hindsight we have made mistakes," said chief executive Mortiz Borman. "But the fact also remains that despite the negative results, we are still a company with many prospects and we find ourselves in an even better position on the international market than where we were a year ago."

Intermedia also blamed the loss on special write-offs on a project and an investment in an affiliated company totalling Euros 9m. Revenues for the year fell to Euros 143.5m, compared to Euros 149.7m the year before.

The company said the delay in booking sales was because it is moving away from minimum guarantee deals, under which it gets cash up front, to distribution deals in which the company takes a share of the box-office. Intermedia has gross participation on the North American theatrical release of K-19: The Widowmaker, starring Harrison Ford.

"The innovations will raise our earnings potential, keeping the risks at a minimum, said Caspar von Blomberg, deputy chairman. "We expect a positive result for 2002."

Shares rose more than 22% on Thursday but the climb only made up for a fall of more than 20% the day before. The jitters came after Internationalmedia stock plummeted by more than 60% last week as the company issued a profits warning and called off the Spyglass merger.

While the company is using its German IMF fund to invest in big budget productions such as Terminator 3, Intermedia still has Euros 150m from its flotation. The company has also consolidated its position by merging with Initial.