23/01/2026

BIZ & FINANCE FRIDAY | JAN 23, 2026

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Ubisoft unveils details of big restructuring bet

Borrowing data offers early new year cheer for UK’s Reeves MANCHESTER: Britain’s government borrowed less than expected in December, helped by robust growth in tax receipts, according to data yesterday that may give Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves reasons for optimism in 2026. Britain’s government borrowed £11.578 billion (RM62.8 billion) in December, the Office for National Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had mostly expected £13 billion of public sector net borrowing last month. Reeves has faced a challenging year-and-a-half in charge of Britain’s economy. She was forced to increase taxes again in her November budget to build a larger buffer against her fiscal rules, as she sought to retain the confidence of investors. “The December figures offer cautious reassurance. Borrowing remains elevated in absolute terms, but the trend is moving in the right direction,” said Joe Nellis, economic adviser at MHA, an accountancy and advisory firm. Borrowing over the first nine months of the 2025/26 financial year stood at £140.4 billion, compared with £140.8 billion at the same point last year, the ONS said. In November, the Office for Budget Responsibility projected borrowing for the entire 2025/26 financial year of £138.3 billion, which takes into account an expected January seasonal surplus. Both tax receipts and day-to-day government spending are running 7.6% higher at this point of the financial year compared with 2024/25. – Reuters Saudi’s Humain secures US$1.2b to expand AI, digital infrastructure RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Humain artificial intelligence company has secured up to US$1.2 billion (RM4.8 billion) in financing to expand digital infrastructure, a statement said, as the kingdom bolsters its investment in AI. The non-binding framework agreement with Saudi’s National Infrastructure Fund outlines the development of up to 250 megawatts in data centre capacity. Humain, backed by Saudi’s nearly trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund, launched last May as the world’s biggest oil exporter bets on AI to help diversify its economy. “Our goal is to deliver world-class AI data centre infrastructure that enterprises can rely on as their compute needs grow more complex,” CEO Tareq Amin said in the statement on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, its neighbour and fellow leading oil producer, are both investing heavily in data centres and companies that supply AI products, including generative models. Humain and the Saudi infrastructure fund are also exploring setting up a data centre investment platform to bring in institutional investors “to support further scaling of Humain’s AI strategy”, the statement said. – AFP

casual or family games like Just Dance . Ubisoft’s five new units will divide around half the group’s studios based around the world amongst themselves. The remainder will form a global network offering support and specialist know-how to individual projects shepherded by the houses, studios chief Marie-Sophie de Waubert told AFP. A similar service will take care of technology, production, marketing and distribution, while Ubisoft’s HQ in Paris will set strategic priorities and allocate resources. Bosses also want to slash working from home and reestablish five office days a week as the norm. That may run into resistance from workers in France, who repeatedly walked out in 2024 to defend teleworking. “This is completely gratuitous,” said Vincent Cambedouzou, a representative of video game workers’ union STJV at Ubisoft Paris. He called the overall plan a “disaster” and a “conflict initiated by management”, saying employees were “terrified as studios are closing one after another”. Ubisoft has already slashed around 3,000 jobs worldwide and closed several studios as part of a

€300 million cost-cutting drive. It said on Wednesday it was launching a “third and final phase” aimed at finding €200 million of savings over two years and suggested “possible disposals of assets”. The company also announced the closure of its Stockholm studio and the transfer of its remaining employees to Massive, another Swedish subsidiary. “Taken together, these measures mark a decisive turning point,” Guillemot said. Nevertheless, “the portfolio refocus will have a significant impact on the group’s short-term financial trajectory”. Ubisoft had until now forecast a roughly balanced financial result for its 2025-26 financial year. It now expects an operating loss of €1 billion and a fall in its preferred “net bookings” revenue yardstick to around €1.5 billion. Ubisoft had aimed to return to operating profitability in 2026-27, but now says it will provide updated forecasts in May. Caught up in broader headwinds for the games industry, the group’s restructuring follows a string of setbacks in recent years including disappointing launches for new titles. Ubisoft shares shed 51% of their value over the course of 2025. – AFP

o Several games cancelled, new round of belt-tightening introduced

PARIS: Ubisoft on Wednesday ended a months-long wait for details of a restructuring the French games giant hopes will power it up to face a competitive market – at the price of a string of cancelled games and a new round of belt-tightening. A wave of disappointed social media posts from fans mourned the highest-profile axed title, a remake of the beloved 2000s-era classic Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time , which was cut after teams sunk several years into its development. A further five games have been cancelled outright, including four unannounced titles and one mobile game, while seven more have been delayed. The cuts and delays make up a large chunk of an expected €1 billion (RM4.8 billion) operating loss in Ubisoft’s 2025-26 financial year. But bosses say the spring cleaning of the group’s pipeline is needed to refocus and get the reorganisation off on the right foot in a market that has become pickier and more competitive than ever. Ubisoft’s restructuring will farm out many of its dozens of studios DUBLIN: Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary on Wednesday reminded billionaire Elon Musk that European Union rules prohibit non-Europeans from controlling the Irish airline, in the latest instalment of their public spat. South African-born Musk, who has US and Canadian citizenship, has run a poll on his social media platform X about buying Ryanair. “Non-European citizens cannot own a majority of European airlines,” O’Leary stressed during a Dublin press conference ahead of the company’s earnings update next week. “But if he (Musk) wants to invest in Ryanair, we would think it’s a very good investment, certainly a significantly better investment than the financial returns he’s earning on X,” O’Leary told reporters. “We want to thank him sincerely for the additional publicity,” added the CEO who like Musk is well known for provocative public comments. Musk, who founded Tesla and heads Starlink – a satellite internet system developed by his aerospace company SpaceX – has been suggesting for days that he might buy publicly-listed Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers. It comes after Irishman O’Leary ruled out using Starlink to equip his fleet with wifi, estimating that the drag created by aerial antennae on its planes would cost up to US$250 million a year in extra fuel.

worldwide into an industry-first system of five “creative houses”, each dedicated to developing a different genre of game. “Each one is built around a clear genre and brand focus, with full responsibility and financial ownership, led by dedicated leadership teams,” CEO Yves Guillemot said in a statement, calling the reorganisation a “radical move” for the group. The first of the houses, Vantage Studios, was unveiled in October and brings together the group’s top-selling franchises: Assassin’s Creed , Rainbow Six and Far Cry . It aims to turn each into €1 billion-per-year revenue machine. Vantage was valued at €3.8 billion, with Chinese internet giant Tencent taking a 26% stake for €1.16 billion. Wednesday’s announcement also detailed the four as-yet unnamed units: one covering shooter games like The Division or Ghost Recon ; a second for multiplayer titles such as For Honor or The Crew ; the third for fantasy worlds like Might and Magic and Prince of Persia ; and the fourth for

Ryanair boss reminds Musk of EU rules preventing takeover

O’Leary poses in front of a screen before a press conference on his feud with Musk in Dublin. – REUTERSPIC

those of certain European countries outside the European Union. Musk bought X, then known as Twitter, for US$44 billion in 2022. – AFP

Ryanair has a market value of nearly €30 billion (RM141 billion). EU regulations stipulate that airlines based in the bloc must be majority-owned by EU citizens, or

Ryanair’s passengers would also not want to pay for the internet service, he insisted. Musk has called for O’Leary’s firing, describing him as “a real idiot”.