Business and Financial Review • Jul 29, 2021
Business and Financial Review
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Carentoir, July 29, 2021
| Unaudited data (€m) January 1 – June 30, 2021 |
2021 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second quarter | |||
| Thrustmaster gaming accessories | 32.9 | 26.4 | +25% |
| Thrustmaster total | 32.9 | 26.4 | +25% |
| Hercules digital devices | 1.8 | 1.4 | +29% |
| OEM (*) | 0.0 | 0.3 | -100% |
| Hercules total | 1.8 | 1.7 | +6% |
| Total | 34.7 | 28.1 | +23% |
| First half | |||
| Thrustmaster gaming accessories | 66.9 | 38.9 | +72% |
| Thrustmaster total | 66.9 | 38.9 | +72% |
| Hercules digital devices | 3.4 | 2.3 | +48% |
| OEM (*) | 0.2 | 0.3 | -33% |
| Hercules total | 3.6 | 2.6 | +38% |
| Total | 70.5 | 41.5 | +70% |
* Accessories developed for third party companies (Original Equipment Manufacturers).
The Group's turnover grew 70% in the first half of 2021, to €70.5 million. The Group posted second-quarter turnover of €34.7 million, up 23% over the second quarter of 2020, when turnover had already doubled relative to the same period in 2019.
This performance confirms strong momentum in sales of the Group's accessories in the Thrustmaster racing and flying segments as well as the Hercules DJ segment.
All geographical regions (European Union and United Kingdom, North America, Other) posted growth in the second quarter and demand remains high.
- SF1000 racing wheel: Thrustmaster's latest racing wheel, the Thrustmaster Formula Wheel Add-On Ferrari SF1000 Edition, has been acclaimed by the international press, with Australian lifestyle site eftm.com awarding it a score of 96% and describing it as "utterly outstanding" in a review published on June 15. French website jeuxvideo.com gave it a score of 18 out of 20 in an article published on April 21, 2021.
These two officially-licensed products are the only ones on the market as of the game's launch. The Group will be launching other accessories this winter to leverage the game's growing popularity across the Xbox Series X|S and Windows 10 platforms.
➢ eSports: the first half of the fiscal year was once again a busy period for Thrustmaster on the eSports scene. For the second year running, Thrustmaster was official sponsor of the DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series finals. The brand was also official hardware supplier for the third year running to the All-Russian Forza Motorsport Championship, held in June.
Events for owners of Hercules DJ controllers: the SoundCloud Go+ streaming service was added to version 5.2 of the DJUCED software on July 20. The Intelligent Music Assistant now suggests tracks from the entire SoundCloud Go+ music catalog, helping DJs take their creativity to new levels.
DJUCED, which is celebrating its tenth birthday, now offers new functions designed to help the DJ community reach new heights.
Since the first quarter of 2021, Hercules has been active on Twitch via DJs all over the world. This positioning has enabled the brand to reach out to a new audience (such as gamers who are also music fans) as well as breaking into the live performance space.
With global supply chains at saturation point, the Group is facing longer lead times and higher costs for sea freight, especially to North America.
Steps have been taken to overcome most of the additional constraints:
New supply channels have been opened up to streamline supply.
Despite these mitigating actions, the current situation will limit sales potential in the United States and result in billing dates being pushed back from the third to the fourth quarter of 2021. However, this is not expected to have any impact on the Group's forecasts.
The Group is set to launch major new racing and flying accessories in the second half of the year. The Group is maintaining its full-year forecast of turnover in excess of €150 million, equating to growth of over 25% in 2021, and net income from ordinary activities in excess of €20 million.
Guillemot Corporation is a designer and manufacturer of interactive entertainment hardware and accessories. The Group offers a diversified range of products under the Hercules and Thrustmaster brand names. Active in this market since 1984, the Guillemot Corporation Group is currently present in 10 countries (France, Germany, Spain, the UK, the United States, Canada, Italy, Belgium, Romania and China [Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong]) and distributes its products in more than 140 countries worldwide. The Group's mission is to offer high-performance, ergonomic products which maximize the enjoyment of digital interactive entertainment for
end users.
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