By Leo Marchandon and Zakarya Meliani

May 20 (Reuters) - French videogame publisher Ubisoft warned on Wednesday of another year of losses and lower sales ‌after a record annual operating loss, deepening pressure on the company ‌as it restructures.

The company reported an International Financial Reporting Standards operating loss of 1.3 billion euros ($1.40 ​billion) for the year to March 2026, which Chief Financial Officer Frederic Duguet said on a press call was a record. Net bookings fell 17.4% to 1.53 billion euros.

Ubisoft said sales in 2026-27 would fall by about 8% to 9%, with a ‌high single-digit operating loss ⁠margin and cash burn of as much as 500 million euros. It said it expected to return to profit and positive ⁠free cash flow in 2027-28 on a stronger release slate and growth in live-service, online multiplayer games meant to keep players spending overtime like Riot Games "League of Legends".

Ubisoft ​has been ​under pressure following weak game launches, delays ​and a January restructuring that ‌pushed its shares lower. The company said it had enough cash for near-term debt repayments and was in talks with lenders to refinance upcoming maturities.

Ubisoft also announced a management addition tied to its biggest franchises.

Nicolo Laurent, the former chief executive of Tencent-owned Riot Games, will join Vantage Studios, a Tencent-Ubisoft venture handling Ubisoft's ‌largest brands, as a special adviser.

Ubisoft also said ​first-quarter net bookings would be about 250 million ​euros, ahead of the release ​of "Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced," a remake of its 2013 ‌Caribbean-set hit.

The publisher cut about 1,200 jobs ​over the past ​year, leaving it with about 16,600 staff, and reduced fixed costs by 118 million euros to 1.435 billion euros in 2025-26. It is targeting ​a further cut to 1.25 ‌billion euros by March 2028 as it tries to stabilise cash ​flow.

(Reporting by Leo Marchandon and Zakarya Meliani in Gdansk; Additional reporting ​by Coralie Lamarque; Editing by Matt Scuffham)