Press release

Lesquin, 22 January 2018, 18:00

Sales up by 11.5% in 3^rd quarter: 80.1 M€ 

Outlook: Shift of Publishing releases from Q4 2017/18 to Q1 2018/19

1. Unaudited data

A dynamic all important 3^rd quarter

Bigben posted sales of 80.1 M€ up by 11.5% for the third quarter of its financial year 2017/18 (October to December 2017), the most important sales period of the year. This achievement is supported by the three businesses of the Group.  

GAMING
The Gaming activity in the 3^rd quarter of FY 2017/18 was supported by the further success of high value own branded accessories and generated sales of € 27.5 million, an increase of 11.2% when compared to the third quarter of the previous year.

· Accessories: In the wake of the 1st half, sales of Gaming accessories showed a growth of 52.7 % to 20.1 M€ thanks to the ongoing success of controllers developed by the Group under the PlayStation ® 4 license (REVOLUTION Pro Controller,REVOLUTION Pro Controller 2 and NACON^TM Compact Controller)and to thriving sales of Bigben accessories for the Nintendo SWITCH^TM console.

· Publishing: Sales for Publishing amounted to 6.6 M€ down by 8.5% in the 3^rd quarter while Publishing sales have been up by 5.1 % over the first 9 months of the financial year. On the other hand, digital sales grew further in the 3^rd quarter (+36.5%) in line with the digital strategy of the Group.

MOBILE
The Mobile activity recorded a 13.5% growth with 36.3 M € sales in the 3rd quarter of FY 2017/18. Sales further benefitted from the success of Force Glass®protection screens (1,000,000 units sold over the first 9 months of FY 2017/18) and from the rising demand for Force Case® shockproof protection shells.

AUDIO
The Audio business managed to increase its share on a slightly declining market with sales of 16.3 M € up by 7.5 %. Over the period, the illuminated Bluetooth^® speakers sporting an innovative design under the new Lumin'Us Group brand met a favourable reception from consumers. The strengthening of the range of Thomson Licensed products equally bore fruit with good sales.

Outlook:

High comparison basis in Gaming Accessories in Q4 2017/18
and shift of Warhammer Inquisitor Martyr to Q1 2018/19

Bigben anticipates for the 4^th quarter of 2017/18 a turnover of the same order as in Q4 2016/17 due to a high base of comparison in Gaming Accessories and despite the shift of the Warhammer Inquisitor Martyr release.

GAMING
The accessory activity will carry on its deployment hallmarked by the ongoing success of the various controllers developed by the Group under the PlayStation ® 4 license. Sales should nevertheless be down when compared with the same period of last financial year which strongly benefitted from the launch of the original REVOLUTION Pro Controller then selling nearly 200,000 units.
The Publishing segment will see the launch of TT Isle of Manwhile it willshift to the 1st quarter of 2018/19 the release of both Tennis World Tour® and Warhammer Inquisitor Martyr games. However significant sales will be generated by the Distribution of the Gravel and Supercross games.

MOBILE
The Mobile activity will be again supported by the vitality of the Force Glass® and Force Case®brands and by the development of new accessory ranges for iPhone, Samsung and Huawei. The launch of the iPhone X smartphone confirms the rise of premium smartphones with an increasing need for high end accessories, a product segment for which Bigben successfully developed a unique offer.

AUDIO
In the wake of previous quarters, the Audio activity will benefit further from the new products launched at the beginning of the financial year and from a strengthened Thomson line-up.

The ongoing favourable trend since the beginning of the current financial year enables the Group to confirm its 2017/2018 annual sales target with sales from 235 M€ to 245 M€. The shift of Tennis World Tour®and Warhammer Inquisitor Martyr release dates to the 1^st quarter of FY 2018/2019 should nevertheless impact the Profit rate from Current Operations of FY 2017/2018 which should now range between 6.0% and 7.0%.

Strong growth expected for financial year 2018/2019

Activity should show again a strong growth as from the 1^st quarter of the new financial year 2018/2019 with the release of both Tennis World Tour® and Warhammer Inquisitor Martyr, the distribution of the REVOLUTION Pro Controller 2in Asia and the ongoing momentum of own brands in the Mobile and Audio businesses. Publishing sales for the full FY 2018/19 should thus at least double when compared to FY 2017/18.

In addition the Group confirms the targets from its "BIGBEN 2020" plan with sales exceeding 280 M€ and a Profit rate from Current Operations of 9% for its financial year 2018/2019.

Upcoming publication:

Annual sales 2017 / 2018:        Monday 23 April 2018
Press release after close of the stock market