Ubisoft financial details
by Kit

Friday, April 30 2004

Consolidated sales results for 2003/2004.

Ubisoft has released consolidated sales results for its 2003/2004 fiscal year.

The company has pushed annual sales up to $433 million (€ 508.4 million), which reflects growth of 22.5% at a constant rate and 12% at current exchange rates. This result confirms Ubisoft’s capacity to generate internal growth of above 20% based on the quality of its studios. “Development” accounted for 86% of sales, up from 77% in 2002/2003, which reflects this solid in-house strength. Moreover, North America and Europe represented 47% and 49%, respectively, of company sales.

- 8 major titles sold more than 10 million units, including sales of 1.7 million for Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, 2.4 million for Prince of Persia The Sands of Time, 2.2 million for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six™3 and 1.1 million for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Island Thunder/Jungle Storm. In addition, the first opus Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell has continued to sell at a steady pace, with a total of 6 million units sold since launch.

- The two major launches in the fourth quarter (January-March), Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow on XBox and Far Cry on PC, went straight to the top of the sales charts* upon release. For the fourth quarter, Ubisoft ranked 5th among independent publishers in the United States* and 4th in the United Kingdom*.

Upward revision of expected cash flow for 2003/2004

- Free cash flow (excluding acquisitions) is now expected to exceed € 50 million, up from the initial forecast of € 30 million. This result is especially positive and reflects a net improvement in both cash flow from operating activities and working capital requirements.

- Taking into account the acquisitions made during the year (the increased holding in Gameloft in October 2003 and the acquisitions of Tiwak and Wolfpack), net debt is expected to total less than € 125 million as of 31 March 2004, compared with € 169.8 million on 31 March 2003.

“This year we have succeeded in creating two new brands: Far Cry and Prince of Persia, in addition to the success of Rainbow Six™3 on consoles. For Fiscal Year 2004/2005, we are going to pursue our strategy of creating brands while paying close attention to player expectations. We are also going to strengthen our internal studios by hiring 400 talented people in our Chinese and Canadian studios, thus ensuring the steady growth of our business,” declared Yves Guillemot, President and CEO of Ubisoft.

--- Jolex Del Pilar