Gameloft sales up 54 per cent

French mobile game publisher and developer Gameloft has published quarter one financial results, revealing that sales for the period stood at EUR 22.7 million.

Year-on-year sales were up by 54 per cent, and Gameloft is now forecasting that annual sales will be up by between 39 per cent - 46 per cent to reach EUR 95 million - 100 million. The company's previous forecast put sales at between EUR 90 million - 100 million.

Gameloft is also projecting an operating margin target "in excess of 10 per cent" for 2007. Last year, the company made EUR 68.4 million in revenues and had an operating income of EUR 2.5 million.

During Q1, 44 per cent of Gameloft's sales were made in Europe, followed by 39 per cent in North America and 17 per cent in the rest of the world. In total 45 games were released in 2006 compared to 20 the previous year, and the company enjoyed hits with titles such as Desperate Housewives, Lost and Real Football 2007.

"The company's strong performance in the first quarter of 2007 shows that it is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the rapid growth in the mobile games market," a spokesperson said.

"The worldwide installed base of Java phones reached 1.2 billion units in 2007and is expected to double in the coming years. With its catalogue of 130 mobile games distributed by more than 170 operators around the world, Gameloft is now beginning to reap the benefits of the massive investments made in previous years."