There is no sign yet of improved fortunes for British computer games company Eidos.

The struggling firm lost £82m in the six months to the end of September, compared with a loss of £38m the year before.

It says that despite difficult market conditions like-for-like trading was on the increase, thanks to the launch of four hit titles including the game "Who wants to be a millionaire".

Part of the loss has been put down to an investment made in Express.com, an internet company which has not performed as well as Eidos has expected.

Troubles

At the beginning of the month, Eidos - creator of Tomb Raider cyber icon Lara Croft - lost its chief executive when Charles Cornwall resigned.

He was the second member of senior management to go in less than a month. Jeremy Lewis had resigned as chief financial officer in early October.

The firm's chief operating Officer, Michael McGarvey, took over from Mr Cornwall, who had been with Eidos since 1993.

Eidos took a battering in the City in October when it confirmed it was no longer in takeover talks with a mystery suitor, widely believed to be French company Infogrames Entertainment.

Its shares have lost nearly three-quarters of their value this year, underperforming the wider market by about 75%.