Frontier Development PLC — Earnings Release 2016

Jan 14, 2016

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RNS Number : 7973L

Frontier Developments PLC

14 January 2016

14 January 2016

Frontier Developments plc

Trading Update

Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV, "Frontier", the "Group"), a leading developer of video games, announces an in-line trading update for the six months ended 30 November 2015.

The Group's Elite Dangerous franchise continues to perform well - at the end of December 2015 a total of 1.4 million paid units had been sold.

In the six months to the end of November 2015, the Group continued its good progress in executing its transition to a self-publishing multi-franchise business model. Elite Dangerous was released on Xbox One, and the Group's second self-published franchise, Planet Coaster, was publicly announced as development continued. The second season of Elite Dangerous: Horizons - was launched as an Early Access product on December 15th, after the end of the period.

Half-year revenue for the Group was approximately £10.9m, an increase of 50% when compared to the first half of last year. We sold 1.2 million Elite Dangerous units up to the end of the half year in November - successful planned price promotions towards the end of season one boosted unit sales, which helped to deliver revenue in line with expectations and creates a substantial potential audience for upgrades over the course of season two. We expect to report EBITDA for the period of approximately £2.1m.

The Group's balance sheet remains strong, and at 30 November 2015, the Group had net cash of £8.6m. The Group is in a good financial position to support its continuing investment plans going forwards.

Frontier expects to report its unaudited interim results in early February 2016.

David Braben, Chief Executive of Frontier Developments, said:

"The first half of this financial year has gone well, and cumulative Elite Dangerous franchise sales now stand at over 1.4m units. Initial reactions to our second franchise, Planet Coaster have been very positive following its announcement in the summer and early development videos released to the public.

The second season for Elite Dangerous was released as an Early Access product in mid December. Existing players are starting to upgrade and new players can now choose between two price points, a premium direct access to season 2, or a lower price start on season 1."

Enquiries:

Frontier Developments	+44 (0)1223 394 300
David Braben, CEO David Walsh, COO Neil Armstrong, CFO
Numis - Nomad and Joint Broker	+44 (0)20 7260 1000
Simon Willis / Jamie Lillywhite (Nomad) / Toby Adcock
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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