Ubisoft continues on its growth path with yet another fantastic quarter. Sales beat expectations for the period and full-year guidance has been raised. Splinter Cell has been moved into the next fiscal year, however.
French publisher Ubisoft today announced its first quarter fiscal results for the period ended June 30, revealing solid sales growth of 25.8 percent. Total sales came to 169 million euros, which the company said outstripped its own target (154 million euros). Ubisoft attributed its success primarily to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Assassin's Creed, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, and its "Games For Everyone" brands including the Petz, Imagine and MyCoach series, which the publisher said represented 33 percent of net sales versus 11 percent in the first quarter of 2007-08.
"Ubisoft delivered a very robust showing in the first quarter of 2008-09 against a particularly dynamic market backdrop. This achievement was especially fueled by ongoing strong growth for our Games For Everyone range where we are continuing to strengthen our leadership position," commented Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer of Ubisoft. "We are notably very pleased to see our latest work - MyWeightLossCoach - ranked among the best sellers for the Nintendo DS. Additionally, at the E3 fair we presented one of the most ambitious games line-ups for the Christmas period, with flagship titles such as Far Cry 2, Prince of Persia, Shaun White, Rayman Raving Rabbids 3, Brothers in Arms, Tom Clancy's End War and a broad offering for the Nintendo DS and Wii consoles. As a result, Ubisoft is well poised to reap the benefits of another record year expected for the video games industry whose growth over the first six months of calendar 2008 has exceeded forecasts."
One title gamers won't be seeing anytime soon is the new Splinter Cell. The game had been scheduled for release in Ubisoft's fourth quarter of fiscal 2008-09, but the publisher shifted its release to "bolster the line-up for fiscal 2009-10." That means gamers could see it in April 2009 at the earliest.
For the second quarter, Ubisoft expects sales of about 160 million euros (once again, a 26 percent bump). This would also bring year-on-year growth for the first half of 2008-09 to 26 percent.
Looking ahead, Ubisoft is raising its guidance for full-year 2008-09 sales to approximately 1.02 billion euros (up from 1 billion euros). The company cited a number of factors, including "favorable market conditions for the video games industry, the Group's solid first-quarter sales performance (particularly by the Games For Everyone range), and the positive reception given to the games presented at E3." Ubisoft is also maintaining its target for current income before stock options to represent at least 12 percent of sales.
