The popular Tomb Raider computer games have been scooping up profits for Eidos, the British company which created the game featuring cyberspace sex symbol Laura Croft. Record sales of Tomb Raider and its sequel - suprisingly called Tomb Raider 2 - to aficionados of the virtual Ms Croft have transformed earnings at the company. Annual results released this week show hyper-charged pre-tax profits surging to £16.5 million sterling, a turnabout from the £6.8 million loss of the previous year. The company attributes the strong financial performance to its decision to concentrate on releasing fewer but higher quality games where profit margins are more assured.

But it is Tomb Raider, with the divinely curvaceous Ms Croft, which is prompting pimply-faced young men to reach deep into their wallets. Eidos chairman Ian Livingstone sees no glass ceiling to impede the progress of this adventurous young lady. The game is expected to be a reliable long term earner for the company "with the potential to generate high levels of revenue in years to come".