Today, Ubisoft released its sales figures for the first quarter of fiscal 2018-19, i.e. the three months ending on June 30, 2018.
Yves Guillemot, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, stated “We had a record first quarter, which exceeded our expectations. This performance was fueled by steady growth for our back-catalog and an excellent momentum for PRI, once again confirming the increasingly recurring profile of our business and the ever-greater success of our digital transformation.
Our teams are continuing to deliver on our strategic plan of ramping up our franchises. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and The Division 2 were very well received at E3, confirming their full potential in a highly competitive environment. Our new creation, Skull & Bones, also made a very good impression due to its innovative gameplay combining naval battles with a multi-player experience.
Thanks to its numerous growth drivers, brisk digital trajectory and close-knit relations with its gamer communities, as well as the fact that it directly owns its brands, Ubisoft is ideally positioned to meet its targets for full-year 2018-19 and continue to grow and increase its profitability over the long term.”
The Group applied the IFRS 15 new revenue norm for the first time in its quarterly financial statements for the three months ended June 30, 2018. As a result of applying this standard, a portion of revenue generated from games is now recognized after the initial delivery date of the game concerned. As the Group has elected to use the cumulative catch-up method for applying IFRS 15, the revenue figure for the first quarter of the previous fiscal year have not been restated.
Sales and net bookings
- Sales: €400.0M
- Deferred services: € -18.5M
- Net bookings: €381.5M
Sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2018-19 amounted to €400.0 million (415.4 million at constant exchange rates).
First-quarter 2018-19 net bookings came to €381.5 million, representing an increase of 88.8% (+ 96.1% at constant exchange rates) on the €202.1 million reported for first-quarter 2017-18.
Outlook
Second-quarter 2018-19 sales and net bookings:
The Group expects second-quarter 2018-19 sales of between €345.0 million and €355.0 million and net bookings to amount to around €345.0 million (versus €264.2 million for the second quarter of 2017-18). This year-on-year expected increase is due to the back-catalog momentum and initial in-stores shipments for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
Full-year 2018-19:
Ubisoft is standing by its targets of:
- Sales of around €2,000.0 million
- Net bookings of around €2,050.0 million.
- Non-IFRS operating income (based on net bookings) of around €440.0 million.
