Ubi Revise Fiscal Year Prospects News
Jon Wilcox
17/03/2005
After announcing Rainbow Six: Lockdown delay Ubisoft makes amendments to its financial Fiscal Year prospects...
In tandem with the announcement of their future release schedule, Ubisoft have today revealed revised prospects for fiscal years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. The move follows the delay in the release of the next installment of the highly popular Rainbow Six franchise, Rainbow Six: Lockdown, which is now set for release the companyâs Q1 period between April and June 2005.
Ubisoft now expects to maintain an annual operating income of 40-45 million Euros (38-43 million Euros in pro-forma figures) and 215 million Euros worth of sales in Q4 2004-2005. The company is confident that despite the delay in releasing Lockdown, the high volume of sales of its titles in the quarter will compensate.
Net profit for the quarter is expected to reach 18-22 million Euros (17-21 million in pro-forma figures) with a net cash flow of 30 million Euros before taking acquisition expenditure into account.
Looking to the next fiscal year, Ubisoft retains expectations of a 12% increase in sales and an operating income of more than 55 million Euros (according to French accounting standards.) The company is expecting a net profit in excess of 28 million Euros (once again calculated to French accounting standards) and a net cash flow of more than 40 million Euros.
Announcing the amendments, Yves Guillemot, President and CEO of Ubisoft commented that, âUbisoft is ending 2004-2005 with outstanding results thanks to the successful launches of the Brothers in Arms brand, which has become the undisputed benchmark in its category in just one installment, and Tom Clancyâs Splinter Cell®, which has received rave reviews. For the first time in the video game industry, the Official Xbox® Magazine in the United States awarded a score of 9.9/10 to the blockbuster Tom Clancyâs Splinter Cell Chaos TheoryTM. This rating, which recognizes a strategy based on quality and creativity, allows us to reaffirm our studiosâ standing among the best in the worldâ¦Fiscal year 2005-2006 should turn out to be another record year right from the first quarter, with major product launches, an even richer game portfolio and an outlook of strong growth and increased profitability. Ubisoft is once again proving its ability to win market share and create value.â
The company certainly seems to be geared towards moving forward in the next twelve months and beyond, despite the continuing Cold War stance between Ubi and Electronic Arts. Weâll have more shortly...