Ubisoft has released its results for the six months ended September 30, 2007.

Highlights:

    * Sales up 52%
    * Marked improvement in profitability
    * 2007-08 games release schedule updated.
    * 2007-08 outlook confirmed.

Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, stated: "Ubisoft's excellent sales performance during the first half of fiscal 2007-08 has considerably boosted our earnings figures for the period. In addition, the early indications for our Christmas games launches have been positive, especially for Assassin's Creed, whose sell-through sales have already topped the record level of 1 million units. These very strong trends further underpin our confidence that we will achieve our objectives for the current year and add further impetus for fiscal 2008-09, which we expect to be a another year of robust growth for the Group."

Sales for the first six months of 2007-8 came to €261 million, up 51.8%, or 55.1% at constant exchange rates. Gross margin represented 64.1% of sales, up from 59.4% in the comparable prior-year period. This strong increase was mainly driven by new generation games, which have a higher sale price and accounted for 75% of overall sales during the period versus 39% one year earlier. Current operating income before stock options totaled €9.1 million (3.4% of sales) compared with a €33.6 million loss recorded in first-half 2006-07.

This robust improvement was primarily attributable to the following factors:

    * A €65.4 million rise in gross profit.
    * A considerable reduction in R&D expenses as a percentage of sales, particularly due to the solid level of back catalogue sales. In first-half 2007-08, R&D expenses totaled €81.3 million, representing 31.1% of sales, compared with 41.5% of sales (€71.4 million) in the same period of 2006-07.

Third-quarter business review

The third quarter of fiscal 2007-08 got off to a good start with a number of new games released in November including Assassin's Creed, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, Beowulf, and the range of casual games. Assassin’s Creed has already notched up record sell-through sales of over a million units, a positive sign that the brand will be successful and that Ubisoft has created another long-term franchise. The casual games – including the Imagine, Petz and MyCoach brands – have also recorded a solid early performance.


2007-08 games release schedule updated

Ubisoft announced that Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will be released during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007-08. This release will capitalise on the success of the first episode. In addition, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction, previously scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007-08, will now form part of a stronger lineup for fiscal 2008-09. Lastly, Haze – which was due for release during the third quarter of fiscal 2007-08 – will now be launched in the fourth fiscal quarter. The targets previously announced by Ubisoft remain unchanged as they already took into account the possible impact of these delays as a preventive measure.