Ubisoft reports full year sales

Transcription

1 Ubisoft reports full year sales Full-year sales up 14% to 1,058 million. Expected full-year financial performance: Current operating income 1 representing around 12% of sales. Net cash position of approximately 155 million targets confirmed. Paris, April 29, 2009 Today, Ubisoft reported its sales for the fourth fiscal quarter ended March 31, Sales Sales for the fourth quarter of came to 206 million, down 5.1%, or down 2.3% at constant exchange rates, compared with the 217 million recorded for the same period of Full-year sales for fiscal totaled 1,058 million versus 928 million for fiscal , representing an increase of 14.0%, or 18.4% at constant exchange rates. Fourth-quarter sales were in line with the guidance of between 190 million and 210 million issued when Ubisoft released its sales figures for the third quarter of This performance was primarily attributable to: A continued very strong showing for games for Wii, including Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party and Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip, combined with the successful launch of My Fitness Coach. Sales of TOM CLANCY S H.A.W.X which reached the set target of one million sell-in units. The Petz and Imagine franchises which each sold-in over one million units during the quarter. Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer, stated: "In a highly competitive environment Ubisoft reported full-year sales growth of 18% at constant exchange rates in as well as the second best profitability among comparable companies in its industry. In addition to strengthening our existing franchises particularly Far Cry and Rayman Raving Rabbids, whose sales were up by more than 50% on their previous performances we successfully launched two new million-unit-selling brands with Shaun White and Tom Clancy s H.A.W.X, confirming our entry into the sports segment and bolstering our position in the air combat segment. Lastly, we affirmed our expertise in titles for Nintendo consoles, with our casual games business posting a growth over 40%. In , we also continued to invest heavily in Ubisoft s future potential, hiring some 1,300 talents for our studios with a view to driving the Company s expansion, further strengthening our franchises and preparing for the next generation of handheld as well as home consoles. The results of these efforts will be seen as early as this Christmas with one of the industry's most ambitious games line-ups which will include Assassin's Creed 2, James Cameron's Avatar, Splinter Cell Conviction, Rabbids Go Home and Red Steel 2." 1 Before stock based compensation

2 Targets Expected results for full-year Full-year current operating income before stock-based compensation is expected to represent around 12% of sales, compared with the 12% to 13% range previously announced, notably as a result of the product mix impact. Ubisoft's net cash position at March 31, 2009 is expected to stand at approximately million compared with the previous estimate of around million, due to: the Company's investment in its future growth, with the hiring of some 1,300 talents for its studios, a third of whom were through acquisitions; the fact that the casual games business particularly titles for Nintendo DS is more working capital intensive. First-quarter sales The first quarter of will see only a few games releases, including: Anno for the PC, Wii and Call of Juarez : Bound In Blood for the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 New casual games for the in the Imagine, Petz, MyCoach and Playzone ranges. The Group expects sales for the first quarter of to come in at around 95 million, representing a 44% decrease compared with the first quarter of which saw strong sales of back-catalog titles as well as the release of Haze and the PC versions of Assassin's Creed and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas targets confirmed Ubisoft is confirming its targets for , namely sales of around 1,100 million and current operating income before stock-based compensation representing at least 11% of sales. Growth is forecast to be generated in the second half, driven by the launch of the year's principal games for the Holiday season. Consequently, in the first six months, sales are expected to contract by approximately 35% compared with the first half of , followed by an estimated growth of around 23% in the second half. The games line-up for will include the following flagship titles: 7 franchised games, including Assassin's Creed 2, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction, Rabbids Go Home, Red Steel 2, Ghost Recon 4 and Anno licensed games James Cameron's Avatar, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Arthur and the Invisibles. 3 new brands R.U.S.E., I am Alive and a sports game for the Wii. New titles based on the successful Petz, Imagine and MyCoach brands and new innovations for Wii. Recent highlights Market share: In the first three months of calendar 2009, Ubisoft was the number 4 independent publisher in the United States with 5.2% market share (compared with number 3 and 7.2% one year earlier); number 3 in Europe with 8.3% market share (compared with number 3 and 9.6%); number 3 in France with 8.1% market share (compared with number 2 and 8.8%); number 3 in the United Kingdom with 9.0% market share (compared with number 3 and 10.5%); and number 3 in Germany with 7.6% market share (compared with number 3 and 7.8%). Page 2/6

3 Acquisitions and studio openings in Acquisition of Action Pants in Vancouver, Canada (fourth fiscal quarter): Established in 2006, Action Pants Inc. currently employs more than 110 video game developers will see the release of the studio s first title, a sports game developed exclusively for Wii. Vancouver is one of the industry s biggest talent pools. Acquisition of Southlogic Studio in Brazil (fourth fiscal quarter): Established in 1996 in Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul), Southlogic s team of around 20 developers has created titles for PC, handheld and home consoles, as well as provided art outsourcing and porting services. The studio has worked for various European, Japanese and American publishers and most recently developed Imagine : Wedding Designer on for Ubisoft. Ubisoft acquires the assets of Massive Entertainment (third fiscal quarter): Created in 1997, Massive Entertainment employs over 120 developers and was ranked as one of the top 50 best game studios in the world by Game Developers Research in The studio is world renowned for its expertise in the RTS genre and for the quality of its innovative proprietary technologies, particularly for online applications. World in Conflict was acclaimed by critics, receiving the Best Strategy Game of E award, as well as being named Best Online Multiplayer Game of 2007 by IGN, and Most Innovative Game of 2007 by Gamespot, among many other awards. Acquisition of Hybride Technologies (first fiscal quarter): Created over 15 years ago, Hybride is based near Montreal and employs 80 team members. The studio specializes in the creation of visual effects for cinema, television and advertising and its many projects include the movies 300, Frank Miller's Sin City, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. Ubisoft and Hybride will work closely together to share technology and develop tools in order to optimize the creation of both video games and special effects, offering gamers visual experiences that rival those of the cinema. At the same time, Hybride will continue to work actively with its movie partners while also bringing its expertise to leverage Ubisoft's intellectual property in the cinema industry. Ubisoft acquires its first development studio in India, based in Pune (first fiscal quarter): This studio has a team of 120 developers and testers and its testing costs are half the level of the Group average. The studio's goal is to become 200-people strong in time and to reach a team of 500 in the coming years. Ubisoft opens two new studios (first fiscal quarter): one in Kiev and one in Sao Paulo. The Kiev studio expects to shortly become fifty-person strong and staff numbers at the Sao Paulo studio are scheduled to reach 200 in the next four years. Financial calendar Release Date Full-year results May 27, 2009 Annual Shareholders Meeting July 10, 2009 These dates are subject to change and will be confirmed at a later stage. Contact Investor Relations Jean-Benoît Roquette Head of Investor Relations Jean-benoit.roquette@ubisoft.com Page 3/6

4 Disclaimer This statement may contain estimated financial data, information on future projects and transactions and future business results/performance. Such forward-looking data are provided for estimation purposes only. They are subject to market risks and uncertainties and may vary significantly compared with the actual results that will be published. The estimated financial data have been presented to the Board of Directors and have not been audited by the Statutory Auditors. (Additional information is specified in the most recent Ubisoft Registration Document filed on July 25, 2008 with the French Financial Markets Authority (l'autorité des marchés financiers)). 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 is present in 28 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 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of 1,058 million. To learn more, please visit Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Assassin s Creed, Play Zone, Imagine, Petz, I AM ALIVE, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Far Cry, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, RUSE, H.A.W.X, Rabbids Go Home, My Fitness Coach, Red Steel, Rainbow Six, Ubisoft, ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Based on Crytek s original Far Cry directed by Cevat Yerli. Persia created by Jordan Mechner. Prince of Persia is a trademark of Jordan Mechner in the U.S. and/or other countries used under license by Ubisoft Entertainment. Anno is a trademark of Sunflowers GmbH in the U.S. and/or other countries. Sunflowers GmbH is a Ubisoft Entertainment company Mirage Studios, Inc. Game 2009 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs TM & 2009 Sony Pictures Animation Inc. All rights reserved. Game Software excluding Sony Elements: 2009 Ubisoft Entertainment. All rights reserved. James Cameron s Avatar: The Game 2009 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. James Cameron s Avatar: The Game software 2009 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Twentieth Century Fox logo is a trademark of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Licensed to Ubisoft Entertainment by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Page 4/6

5 APPENDICES Breakdown of sales by geographic region % sales % sales % sales % sales 2008/ /08 Q4 2008/09 Q4 2007/08 Europe 46% 44% 54% 51% North America 47% 48% 40% 42% Rest of world 8% 8% 6% 7% TOTAL 100% 100% 100% 100% Breakdown of sales by platform 2008/ /08 Q4 2008/09 Q4 2007/08 23% 27% 29% 25% GBA 0% 1% 0% 1% PC 13% 4% 9% 7% PlayStation 2 2% 2% 2% 6% PLAYSTATION 3 15% 23% 20% 20% PSP 4% 2% 3% 4% Wii 29% 9% 18% 11% XBOX % 33% 19% 26% TOTAL 100% 100% 100% 100% Breakdown of sales by business line 2008/ /08 Q4 2008/09 Q4 2007/08 Development 75% 85% 81% 86% Publishing 19% 12% 11% 12% Distribution 7% 3% 8% 3% TOTAL 100% 100% 100% 100% Page 5/6

6 Games Release Schedule First quarter (April June 2009) ANNO 1404 DAWN OF DISCOVERY ANNO : CREATE A NEW WORLD CALL OF JUAREZ : BOUND IN BLOOD CLASSIC WORD GAMES MIGHT & MAGIC CLASH OF HEROES IMAGINE BOUTIQUE OWNER IMAGINE CHAMPION RIDER (EMEA) IMAGINE MAKEUP ARTIST (US) IMAGINE MUSIC FEST (US) MY HEATHLY COOKING COACH MY HAPPY KITCHEN (EMEA) PETZ FASHION DOGZ AND CATS (US) PETZ MY BABY HAMSTER (EMEA) PETZ MY PUPPY FAMILY (EMEA) PLAYZONE FUN PARK PARTY (EMEA) PLAYZONE SUMMER SPORTS PARTY (EMEA) TOTALLY SPIES AGENDA (EMEA) PC Wii, PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360, PC Nintendo DSI & DS PSP Nintendo DSI & DS PSP PSP Wii Wii Page 6/6