SCi GROUP PLC
ISSUES TRADING UPDATE
Copyright 2007 SCi Entertainment Press Release
[ January 24th 2007 ]
The
Board of SCi
Entertainment Group Plc, the UK's leading
video and computer games publisher, is pleased
to announce that the Group has traded in line
with expectations in the first six months of the
financial year, to 31 December 2006.
Revenue
in the six months to 31 December 2006 is expected
to exceed £70 million, a 40% increase on revenue
in the corresponding period to 31 December 2005
(£50.1 million). The majority of the increase
in revenue arose from the distribution of products,
particularly Justice
League Heroes and continued sales of Lego
Star Wars.
As in
prior years, the major portion of the Group's
product releases and revenues arise in the second
half of the financial year. The Group has therefore
not revised its internal budget for the financial
year as a whole. As in the 2006 financial year
our internal budget plans a loss in the first
half followed by a profit for the full year.
In the
six months to 31 December 2006 the Group's most
successful new product launch was Just
Cause. Just Cause was released in September
2006 and immediately entered the UK charts at
No 1 in the Microsoft Xbox 360 charts and No 2
in the All Formats charts.
We now
expect Just Cause to sell over one million units
in the current financial year. The sequel to Just
Cause is in development. The Group also released
Reservoir
Dogs, Bionicle
Heroes, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and
the PC version of Championship
Manager 2006/7.
Approximately
one third of revenue for the first half arose
from the distribution of third party titles. Lego
Star Wars, first launched in April 2005, continued
to sell strongly. We have now sold over 5.4 million
units of Lego Star Wars. In addition we released
Justice League Heroes in November 2006. This title
has performed strongly and we now expect sales
to exceed one million units in the current financial
year.
Our second
half release schedule will include Tomb
Raider Anniversary which celebrates 10 years
of Lara Croft
and Tomb Raider.
Tomb Raider Anniversary will be released on Playstation
2, PSP and PC in April 2007.
Our second
half releases include a growing number of products
aimed at the casual and family market. These products
include Pony Friends, Zendoku,
Diner Dash, Prism:
Light the Way, Ora: Use Your Emotion and PC
versions of six classic casual games including
Luxor: Amun Rising, Jewel Quest and Cubis 2.
Following
the success of Just Cause on the Microsoft 360
platform, we will launch Battlestations
Midway on the 360 (as well as a PC version)
in February 2007.
Our future
next generation console titles include new versions
of Tomb Raider, Hitman
and Championship Manager plus exciting new IPs
including Kane
& Lynch and Crossfire.
In the light of the launch of the Sony Playstation
3 in North America in November 2006 and its planned
European launch in Spring 2007 we are assessing
the timing of when to launch these titles on the
appropriate next generation platforms.
We are
very pleased to be distributing the PC version
of the forthcoming Massively Multiplayer On line
title Age
of Conan. We expect this title to be released
during 2007, with future updates.
Part
of the Group's strategy is to publish a wider
range of titles to match the broadening demographics
of games buyers. In line with this strategy, On
15 January 2007 shareholders approved the resolution
necessary to complete the agreements with Warner
Bros announced on 15 December 2006.
These
agreements strengthen our relationship with one
of the world's largest media companies. The proceeds
from the share subscription will be invested into
further growth opportunities including expansion
of our product pipeline, building further development
capacity in low cost locations such as Canada
and China and expansion of our New Media and Casual
Games divisions.
We expect
returns from this investment to benefit the 2008
financial year onwards.
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