7 May 2024
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION
Frontier Developments plc
Trading Update
Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV, 'Frontier', the 'Group' or the 'Company'), a leading developer and publisher of videogames based in Cambridge, UK, provides an update on trading for Frontier's financial year 2024 ('FY24'), the 12 months to 31 May 2024.
Since the last trading update on 2 April 2024, Frontier's portfolio has performed well, with pleasing contributions from all games. CMS titles have performed particularly well, in part due to a strong Frontier publisher sale on leading PC channel Steam from 1 to 15 April. On consoles, Planet Zoo: Console Edition continued to sell well during April following its successful release in March.
Following these strong performances across the whole portfolio in April, the Board currently project revenue for FY24 of at least £85 million.
Frontier's financial performance for FY24 as measured by Adjusted EBITDA* is now anticipated to be better than previously guided, based on a higher gross margin percentage from a greater proportion of own-IP revenue, lower operating costs following the completion of the Organisational Review, and the gain from the sale of the RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 publishing rights to Atari as announced on 2 April 2024. Based on revenue of at least £85 million, the Board anticipates an Adjusted EBITDA* loss for FY24 of £5 million or better. Under IFRS accounting standards, the sale of publishing rights to Atari is treated as 'other operating income' rather than 'revenue', but it does contribute to Adjusted EBITDA.
The Board expects to provide a further update on the outturn for the financial year in June 2024.
*Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment charges related to game developments and game technology, less investments in game developments and game technology, and excluding restructuring costs, share-based payment charges and other non-cash items.
Jonny Watts, Chief Executive Officer, said:
"I am pleased to announce that our expectations for our financial performance in the current financial year have improved following the excellent reception to Planet Zoo's arrival on console and a good ongoing performance from our other CMS titles. We are making strong progress following the reset of our strategy during 2023 and I'd like to thank our people for their support during a difficult period in Frontier's thirty year history. We look to the future with renewed confidence."
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as amended by The Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The person responsible for making this announcement on behalf of the Company is Alex Bevis.
Enquiries:
Frontier Developments +44 (0)1223 394 300
Jonny Watts, CEO
Alex Bevis, CFO
Peel Hunt - Nomad and Corporate Broker +44 (0)20 3100 2000
Neil Patel / Paul Gillam / Kate Bannatyne
Liberum - Joint Corporate Broker +44 (0)20 3100 2000
Max Jones / Nikhil Varghese
Teneo +44 (0)20 7353 4200
Matt Low / Arthur Rogers
About Frontier Developments plc
Frontier is a leading independent developer and publisher of videogames founded in 1994 by David Braben, co-author of the iconic Elite game. Frontier uses its proprietary COBRA game development technology to create innovative genre-leading games, primarily for personal computers and videogame consoles.
Frontier's LEI number: 213800B9LGPWUAZ9GX18.
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