The French game publisher Ubisoft video Wednesday revised downward its financial targets for its fiscal year 2009/2010 lagged, partly because of disappointing sales of some games and the postponement of several launches.
The number three European industry now expects sales for the third quarter of 495 million euros against 540 expected before, and 860 million euros for the full year, against 1.04 billion expected before.
Furthermore, the group, who expected a positive result of at least 70 million euros over the year, now provides a loss of about 50 million. Its business casual "(games for the family) loses a year to the next almost 160 million euros, a drop of almost 50%."Despite successes like Assassin's Creed 2, which is expected to reach 9 million units through March, or Just Dance, our very successful Christmas on the Wii, Ubisoft has not met its financial goals," says CEO Yves Guillemot , quoted in a statement.
Ubisoft announced it will refocus on its core franchises and games consoles Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It promises to last two outings a catalog of "very substantial", which should enable it, on the period 2010-2011, "to gain market share and improve (its) profitability."
Ubisoft lost over 9% in one week
The market, worried about developments in the industry have fully incorporated this announcement. At the Paris Bourse, the stock has indeed closed down 1.95% to 10.07 euros in a market almost stable (+0.02%). In five days, the stock has lost 9.12%.Its competitor, Electronic Arts, anticipated loss from 1.94 to $ 2.24 per share (cons – 1.2A $ 2.05 per share on the previous forecast) in its fiscal quarter ending March 30, for a turnover between $ 3.6 billion rather than $ 3.9 billion for its fiscal year.
Ubisoft is also penalized by the decision of the firm Sterne Agee analyst lowered his rating to "neutral" cons "buy" before. For the moment, "there is no reason to confirm a recommendation to buy, analysts say. The analyst firm also shown Aurel disappointed by sales of "Avatar: The Game", "well below" their expectations.They recommend to "sell" in their notes.
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