Ubisoft Losses Increase As Sales Flat Line

Officials from Ubisoft have announced the company’s six month financial results for the period ending September 30. During this time, revenues rose by just 2 percent to €130 million ($174m), while the company’s operating loss improved by €5.4 million ($7.2m), but still totaled a significant loss of €45.2 million ($60.7m). The net loss for the period increased from €34.4 million ($46.2m) at the same time last year, to €36.5 million ($49.0m). The company attributes this to increases in internal development expenses, in line with projections. With few significant titles being released in the first half of the year, the company is relying on current games such as Prince Of Persia: Warrior Within and Ghost Recon 2, as well as spring titles such as Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Brothers in Arms and Far Cry: Instincts. "With a 5.4 million euro improvement in operating profit, the first half is in line with our expectations," said CEO Yves Guillemot. "For the Christmas season, the launches of two major products - Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within - have been very encouraging. Ghost Recon 2 ranks third in November sales on Xbox in the United States while Prince of Persia: Warrior Within sold more than twice as many copies in its first week than the original game." Despite these relatively disappointing results, the company still expects to make its full year targets of earnings before interest and tax of between €40 and €45 million ($54m to $60m).