French publisher Ubisoft has announced its third quarter fiscal results for the all-important holiday period ended December 31, 2007. Sales climbed more than 44 percent to 450 million euros ($625.81 million), significantly better than the guidance Ubisoft had provided for 410 million euros (which itself had already been raised back on Dec. 13). For the first nine months of the fiscal year Ubisoft's sales were up an impressive 47.2 percent to 711 million euros ($988.78 million).

The publisher's solid performance and continued growth were largely driven by the success of Assassin's Creed, which sold five million copies, and its expanded casual business – most notably its new Imagine line, which sold 2.5 million units. In Europe, Assassin's Creed was the best-selling game in 2007 for the PS3 and the second best-selling game on Xbox 360. In the U.S. it was the second best-selling game in 2007 for the PS3and the third best-selling on 360. Ubisoft also reported "excellent sales" for its other casual games series such as the Petz line and the My Coach franchise.

Overall, games for the new consoles represented 84 percent of sales for the first nine months (compared to 55 percent during the same period a year ago) and Ubisoft's market share continued to increase during calendar 2007. The company became the number two independent publisher in Europe, with 58 percent growth (versus 25 percent for the European market as a whole), and market share of 8.7 percent (6.9 percent in 2006). In the U.S., Ubisoft claimed the number three independent publisher status with 49 percent growth (compared with 29 percent for the U.S. market as a whole), and market share of 6.1 percent (vs. 5.2 percent in 2006).

Ubisoft also announced that Haze, which had been scheduled for release during the fiscal fourth quarter, has been moved into the 2008-09 year. Consequently, Ubisoft has raised its 2008-09 sales target to approximately one billion euros ($1.39 billion) compared with the previously-announced forecast of around 975 million euros ($1.355 billion). The company still anticipates operating income to represent at least 11 percent of sales.

The 2008-09 year is expected to be big for Ubisoft, with releases from seven franchises including Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Brothers in Arms, Far Cry, Prince of Persia and Anno. The publisher also said it will introduce five new brands, including Tom Clancy's EndWar, Haze, a Shaun White snowboard game, a Tom Clancy air combat game, new games in the Petz, Imagine and My Coach series, and another new line of casual games.

Looking in the near-term at the fourth quarter, Ubisoft is expecting sales of 165 million euros ($229.46 million), which would represent a decrease of 16 percent year-over-year. Because of the publisher's outstanding third quarter, however, full-year guidance for 2007-08 has been bumped up to 875 million euros ($1.216 billion compared to the previous guidance of $1.168 billion) and operating income should represent at least 13 percent of sales.

Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer of Ubisoft, commented, "The vast majority of our games reaped the benefits of particularly strong market momentum over the Christmas period. Two new long term multi-million franchises were created, Assassin's Creed and Imagine, generating sell-in sales of five and 2.5 million units respectively. They will join our existing portfolio of 12 franchises. As a result, Ubisoft moved up from fourth to third place in the overall ranking of independent publishers in 2007 – a year that saw the video game industry enter new dimension with previously unheard of visibility."

He continued, "This revolution stems from the greater accessibility of Nintendo's consoles as well as from the superb cinema-like visual experience provided by Sony and Microsoft consoles. We expect this situation to significantly drive up market performance once again in 2008, with overall market growth representing at least 10 percent. Against this backdrop, Ubisoft will continue to leverage its strong brands and design capacities with a view to outperforming the market."