Raider courting Lara

Eidos profits have suffered

The troubled company behind the hugely successful Tomb Raider series of computer games, Eidos, is in talks which may lead to it being taken over.

The company, whose creation Lara Croft became the UK's first virtual superstar, issued the statement after its shares suddenly surged by more than 20%.

Actress Angelina Jolie is expected to play Lara in a film

The company's shares have tumbled in recent months as its profits slumped in the face of heavy competition in the games market.

Last month it recorded an operating loss of £26.8m for the year to 31 March compared with operating profits of £39.2m for the previous year.

PlayStation developments

Eidos has been hit as sales of new games remain sluggish ahead of the new wave of hardware - led by Sony's PlayStation 2 - reaching the European and US markets later in the year.

The company's shares hit a high of 1273p in December last year but since then have steadily fallen back, hitting 260p last month before mounting the recent rally.

Eidos launched 24 new titles during the past 12 months, with current titles including Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil: Survivor.

It has 10 titles in development for the new PlayStation while it is also working with Microsoft and Nintendo to support their new consoles to be released next year.

The makers of computer games are highly sought after by console makers such as Sony, Nintendo and soon Microsoft, who want to encourage games players to buy their equipment.

Its shares closed 120 pence higher at 550 pence.