First-quarter sales: €103 million
Targets for full-year 2011-12 confirmed
Paris, July 20, 2011 – Today, Ubisoft released its sales figures for the fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2011.
Sales
Sales for the first quarter of 2011-12 came to €103 million, down 36.3% (or 33.6% at constant exchange rates) compared to the €161 million recorded for the same period of 2010-11.
First-quarter 2011-12 sales were, however, higher than the guidance of approximately €90 million issued when Ubisoft released its full-year results for 2010-11. The quarter saw the following:
A solid performance from back-catalog titles, with sales up 84.0% to €68 million, thanks in particular to Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood and the dance titles.
The launches of Child of EdenTM and Michael Jackson The Experience on Kinect, compared with the releases of Splinter Cell Conviction® and Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands® in the first quarter of 2010-11.
A 45.0% increase in online sales, to €12.5 million. XBLA titles OutlandTM and Might & Magic Clash of Heroes® performed well, with quality review ratings close to 85%.
Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer, stated “Ubisoft turned in a solid performance in the first fiscal quarter thanks to a strong increase in our online and back-catalog sales, fueled notably by continuing solid sales of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. This initial positive back-catalog trend reflects our prudent sell-in approach as well as the quality of our product portfolio. It also supports our expectation of an improved gross margin.”
"At the latest E3, Ubisoft presented a solid and promising games portfolio. In the High Definition segment, Assassin’s Creed Revelations, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Driver San-Francisco, Rayman Origins, Raving Rabbids Alive & Kicking and The Adventures of Tintin confirmed their potential. In the Casual segment, we once again demonstrated our leadership in dance games with Just Dance 3 and The Black Eyed Peas Experience. Unlike last fiscal year’s releases, these two new titles will both be launched on multiple platforms. In the Online segment, Ghost Recon Online and TrackMania 2/ManiaPlanet were very well received and initial feedback from players of the closed beta of Ghost Recon Online has been very positive. In addition, the recent announcement of our acquisition of Owlient – expert in online community games – marks an increased acceleration of Ubisoft's free-to-play strategy and of our capacity to seize the strong growth opportunities provided by the Online segment".
Outlook
Sales for the second quarter of 2011-12
The second quarter will see the following releases:
Driver® San-Francisco for Xbox 360®, Playstation® 3, Wii and PC
Call of Juarez®: The Cartel for Xbox 360®, Playstation® 3 and PC
TrackmaniaTM 2 Canyon
From DustTM for XBLA and PSN
Settlers® Online in France and the US
Closed beta of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Online in France, Germany, the US
Sales for the second quarter of 2011-12 are expected to come in at around €99 million, on a par with the second quarter of 2010-11.
Full-year 2011-12
Ubisoft confirms its previously announced targets for full-year 2011-12, expecting sales to total between €1,040 million and €1,080 million, and current operating income to amount to between €40 million and €60 million.
Significant events
Market share: In the first six months of calendar 2011, Ubisoft was 4th independent publisher in the United States with 7.1% market share (compared with number 4 and 6.0% one year prior) and number 3 in Europe with 7.1% market share (compared with number 3 and 8.8%).
Extension of the Equity Swap contract: the Equity Swap contract with Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (formerly Calyon) concerning Gameloft shares has been extended for a further two years until July 15, 2013. At March 31, 2011, 6,314,983 Gameloft shares were held in connection with the Equity Swap contract.
Owlient: Ubisoft has acquired the free-to-play game developer Owlient, which has extensive expertise in the management of online game-playing communities with over 2.0 million monthly active users. Over the last five years Owlient has developed an architecture dedicated to delivering and monetizing games as a service, as well as the expertise of attracting and retaining online communities.
About Ubisoft:
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has offices in 26 countries and has sales in more than 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2010-11 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,039 million. To learn more, please visit: www.ubisoftgroup.com.