Ubisoft shines as bookings beat forecasts

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Ubisoft Entertainment powered up on Friday after the French gaming firm reported above-forecast quarterly bookings. The company behind the Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia series, among others, said third-quarter net bookings were €626.2m, an increase of 43% and ahead of guidance for €610m.

Ubisoft said the performance had been driven by high-quality new releases as well as the strength of its back catalogue.

Recent well-received releases include Assassin's Creed Mirage, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and The Crew Motorfest.

Ubisoft also reaffirmed its full-year target for operating income of around €400m. Fourth quarter net bookings are expected to be "sharply up", it noted, leading to "record" annual numbers.

As at 1100 GMT, shares in the Paris-listed business had put on 19%.

In a statement released late on Thursday, co-founder and chief executive Yves Guillemot said: "This quarter provided us with positive momentum and marks the beginning of our turnaround to consistently creating and delivering high-quality, long-lasting games.

"The fourth quarter represents an opportunity to continue to build on this momentum, with the launch of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and the release of Skull and Bones.

"We made further progress in streamlining our operations and at the same time saw overall talent retention continue to improve. We are firmly committed to continuing along this path in the months ahead to deliver on our cost-reduction targets."

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The shares have had a torrid time coming out of the pandemic as the boom period, which resulted from people being stuck inside with nothing to do, very quickly turned to bust as pressures increased on household finances and people had alternative activities to pursue.

"This has been compounded at Ubisoft by delays to key releases and some poorly received titles.

"Its latest update offers new hope, as does the upcoming release of Star Wars Outlaws, which is tapping into some extremely strong IP."

Star Wars Outlaws is due for release in the 2025 full-year, alongside Assassin's Creed Codename Red.