Frontier Development PLC — Earnings Release 2015

Jun 25, 2015

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RNS Number : 1575R

Frontier Developments PLC

25 June 2015

25 June 2015

Frontier Developments plc

Full year trading update

Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV, "Frontier", the "Group"), a leading developer of video games, announces the following trading update ahead of its results for the financial year ended 31 May 2015.

Summary 

The first significant step in Frontier's transition, to move fully to a self-publishing model, was delivered as the Group publically released its first major self-published title Elite: Dangerous in December 2014.

As a result, Frontier more than doubled headline revenue for the full year to over £22m and expects to report an operating profit of over £1.25m (unaudited). Net cash balances increased to £10.5m at 31 May 2015.

During the financial year, the Group successfully completed Screamride on XBox One for Microsoft Game Studios and Tales from Deep Space for Amazon Game Studios on both the Kindle and iOS platforms. The Group is using the people who worked on these projects to invest in the development of a new self-published title Planet Coaster, in addition to further development of the Elite: Dangerous franchise.​

Franchises

The Board continues to be pleased with the progress of Elite: Dangerous to date. Total paid unit sales are currently in excess of 640,000.

Elite: Dangerous was made available on the Steam digital distribution service on 2 April 2015 in addition to Frontier's own online store, and reached number 1 in the Steam sales charts shortly after release, and again during the recent Steam Summer Sale.

The Group continues to add new platforms by leveraging the cross-platform nature of its COBRA software technology, in order to further expand the potential audience for Elite: Dangerous. A version for Apple Mac computers was released on 12 May 2015 that allows cross-play between PC and Mac players.

Post period end, on 15 June at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles Microsoft announced that Elite: Dangerous is one of two games available at the launch of its new Game Preview Program service. The full launch of Elite: Dangerous on Xbox One games console will take place later in 2015.

On 16 June 2015 during E3, the Group's new self-published title, Planet Coaster was marketed for the first time as part of the inaugural PC Gaming Show.

Cash Position

The Group's balance sheet remains strong and, at 31 May 2015, the Group had net cash of approximately £10.5 million after having repaid its interest free loan to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency early, once again making the Group debt free and placing it in a strong financial position to support its continuing investment plans going forward. As a result, the Group has reviewed its cash resource requirements for the next 12 months and decided to lower its revolving credit facility with Barclays Bank plc from £3m to £1m. This facility expires in May 2016.

Frontier Developments expects to report its results in early September 2015.

David Braben, Chief Executive of Frontier Developments, said:

"We successfully achieved a major milestone by releasing Elite: Dangerous on 16 December 2014. Elite: Dangerous is being continually improved by regular game updates which creates publicity and stimulates demand. We are also increasing the addressable market by adding platforms and new distribution channels.

We are progressing well with our plans, and the reception of both the first video of our second franchise Planet Coaster and the Xbox One Elite: Dangerous game from the recent E3 trade show has been excellent. The outlook for the company is very strong."

Enquiries:

Frontier Developments	+44 (0)1223 394 300
David Braben, CEO David Walsh, COO Neil Armstrong, CFO
Canaccord Genuity	+44 (0) 207 523 8000
Simon Bridges/Emma Gabriel
Finncap	+44 (0) 207 220 0500
Matt Goode/Giles Rolls
Tulchan Communications	+44 (0) 207 353 4200
James Macey White/Matt Low

About Frontier Developments plc 

Frontier Developments plc, listed on the AIM stock market (AIM: FDEV), is a leading independent game developer founded in 1994 by David Braben, co-author of the seminal 'Elite' game. Based in Cambridge, Frontier uses its proprietary 'COBRA' game development technology to create innovative games across videogame consoles, computers, smartphones and tablets.

www.frontier.co.uk                        

Important Note

The information contained in this announcement about the sales of Elite: Dangerous relates solely to this game and does not constitute a profit estimate or profit forecast in respect of the Group or any guidance as to the likely profits of the Group.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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