Regulatory News:

FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE (Paris:ALFOC) (FR0012419307 ALFOC), a leading French publisher of video games, announced its fourth quarter and full year 2019-20 revenue for the twelve-month period ending on 31st March 2020.

Full year 2019/20 Revenue

Non-audited
In million euros

Q4

2019-20

Q4

2018-19

Var.

FY

2019-20

FY

2018-19

Var.

Catalogue

11.2

19.0

-41%

85.8

94.8

-10%

Back-catalogue

12.8

5.5

+134%

57.0

31.2

+83%

Total revenue

24.0

24.5

-2%

142.8

126.0

+13%

Jurgen Goeldner, Chairman of the Management Board, declared: The year 2019-20 marked a significant milestone in our journey to our 2022 objectives. During the year, we demonstrated our ability to change scale with major commercial successes and the generation of a recurring revenue stream thanks to the strength of our back-catalogue. We also invested heavily to fuel our future developments. I thank our teams for their continued performance and excellent work.

John Bert, COO, added: We are really proud to have once again been able to establish strong new brands like World War Z, A Plague Tale and Greedfall in an extremely competitive market. Even if 2020-21 is still a year of transition, the recent successes underline our confidence for the years to come and validate our choices, both for the studio partners and our publishing line. We therefore maintain our guidance for the two coming fiscal years.

Strong commercial successes in FY 2019-20

Focus Home Interactive had strong revenue growth in FY 2019-20. The Group’s revenue increased by 13% to €142.8 million, driven by new titles such as World War Z, Greedfall and A Plague Tale: Innocence in the first half of the year and the strong performance of the back-catalogue. As announced, the Group continued to expand on new platforms, with the release of Farming Simulator, Vampyr and Call of Cthulhu on Nintendo Switch, and kept supporting its major licences by delivering new content, DLCs and expansions.

The high quality of the games published by the Group has been officially recognized with the first nomination for a Focus Home Interactive game – A Plague Tale: Innocence – at The Game Awards in Los Angeles, California.

Strong growth was also fuelled by digital sales, which accounted for 82% of total sales in the full year, up from 66% the previous year. International sales have risen to 93% compared to 90% last year.

A robust and resilient Q4 2019-20

Over the 4th quarter 2019-20, Focus Home Interactive managed to generate solid revenue of €24.0 million, in line with Q4 2018-19 at €24.5 million, despite a tough year-on-year comparative as well as the lock-down that impacted its main markets during the final weeks of the quarter.

Over the quarter, the Group released several DLCs for its franchises which performed very well. Focus Home Interactive also recorded €12.8 million of back-catalogue sales, representing an outstanding +134% growth compared to Q4 2018-19.

The share of digital in the last quarter of 2019-20 accounted for 96% of total sales, up from 88% the previous year, while international sales were stable at a high level of 95% compared to 96% last year.

Business update

During this first quarter 2020-21, the Group continues its efforts supporting its biggest franchises by bringing sequels, or new content to the dedicated community of players.

2020-21 fiscal year will start with the release of SnowRunner (PS4 / Xbox One/ PC - Saber Interactive), the highly anticipated sequel of MudRunner. The sequel - enhanced by a fantastic engine from Saber - will offer all players an unprecedented off-road experience at the game’s release on April 28 and will be supported throughout the entire year with a huge list of additional content (DLCs, Season Pass, etc.). A mobile version of MudRunner is also planned for the coming months.

World War Z (PS4 / Xbox One - Saber Interactive) will receive its Game Of The Year Edition in May which will include all the content ever released to date (full game and DLC), with a new episode offering three new missions in which Zombies invade Marseille, France, adding a more explosive action for the multi-million selling game.

While there is no new iteration of Farming Simulator this fiscal year 2019-20, the franchise will continue providing its dedicated community of players with new content, DLCs and expansions.

Support independent titles with potential

The Group confirms its strong support to the most talented young studios, as well as independent veteran developers that already demonstrated their know-how in the past. The fiscal year 2020-21 will see nine titles with great potential, developed by creative and talented teams.

Revealed at PAX Boston, a major gaming event held in February, the gorgeous and spectacular tactical-RPG Othercide (PS4 / Xbox One / PC / Nintendo Switch - Lightbulb Crew) as well as the space-sandbox-experience Hardspace: Shipbreaker (PS4 / Xbox One / PC - Blackbird Interactive, industry veterans) had the honour of being considered Best of Show by many of the attendees. These titles will offer unique experiences once released this summer.

This fiscal year will also see the release of three titles supported by strong GamesWorkshop licences: the 3rd-person tactical-RPG Necromunda: Underhive Wars (PS4 / Xbox One / PC - Rogue Factor), as well as two new titles from Streum On Studio (Space Hulk: Deathwing) and Gasket Games - these two unannounced games will be revealed in the coming months.

Finally, City Architect: Paris (PC - Enodo Studio) will soon start its Early Access on Steam. The Group will provide more information about this game, that promises to be a unique combination of a simulation, tycoon, builder and management game.

Fast reaction and adaptation to the COVID-19 crisis: 24 ongoing projects, while publishing activity goes on

Focus Home Interactive’s priority is the health and safety of its employees and business partners. The Group remains committed to supporting them throughout this time of uncertainty. While still evaluating the full COVID-19 impact, Focus Home Interactive and its studio partners took all the necessary measures to adapt given the context and guarantee business continuity.

Development works continue, and most of the release dates are not critically impacted by the lockdown. Focus Home Interactive enforced remote working even before it was made a legal requirement, as the Group anticipated such restrictions and prepared for everyone to get through the period in the safest and most efficient way.

While the Group will obviously experience some impact due to COVID-19, especially in the retail market, the digital strategy adopted by the Group has enabled a fast reallocation of resources to boost and maximize digital sales, communication and marketing. As a result, the Group already experienced a significant increase in digital sales over the 4th quarter ending March 31, 2020.

Outlook confirmed for 2020-21 and 2021-22 fiscal years

Focus Home Interactive confirms its revenue guidance:

  • For the end of the 2020-21 fiscal year: €110M - €130M (at constant scope)
  • For the end of the 2021-22 fiscal year: €150M - €200M (at constant scope)

Upcoming event

Event

Date

2019/20 Full Year results

Thursday 25th June 2020

About Focus Home Interactive

FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE is a leading French publisher of video games. Its vocation is to support leading international studios in the development, production monitoring, marketing, sales and financing of their projects. As a publisher of strong brands such as The Surge, Vampyr, Mudrunner, Call of Cthulhu and Farming Simulator, the Group generated revenues of €143 million in 2019/20, up 13% compared to the previous comparable period. FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE generates more than 90% of its sales internationally. For additional information, visit www.focus-home.com