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EA Result Reveals 2 Million Spore, 800k WAR, More Revenue, Higher Loss, Layoffs

by Rainier on Oct. 30, 2008 @ 2:24 p.m. PDT

EA's Q2 2009 financial result reveals increased revenue ($894 million,up $254 million as compared to last year) driven by Spore (2 million units sold), Warhammer Online (1.2 million sold, 800k users), Madden 09, Mercenaries 2, Tiger Woods 09 and a few others. However, losses also increased from last year's $195 million to $310 mill., and as a result, EA will restructure, starting with a 6% workforce reduction, which will save $50 mill/year.

Fiscal Second Quarter Results (comparisons are to the quarter ended September 30, 2007)

Net revenue for the second quarter was $894 million, up $254 million as compared with $640 million for the prior year. During the quarter, EA had a net deferral of $232 million of net revenue related to certain online enabled packaged goods games and digital content as compared with $296 million in the prior year.

Non-GAAP net revenue was $1.126 billion, up 20 percent as compared with $936 million for the prior year. Sales were driven by the launches of Madden NFL 09, SPORE™, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames™, NCAA® Football 09, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09, Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™, as well as the continued strength of Rock Band™.

Net loss for the quarter was $310 million as compared with net loss of $195 million for the prior year. Diluted loss per share was $0.97 as compared with diluted loss per share of $0.62 for the prior year.

Non-GAAP net loss was $20 million as compared with non-GAAP net income of $87 million a year ago. Non-GAAP diluted loss per share was $0.06 as compared with non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.27 for the prior year.

Trailing-twelve-month operating cash flow was $219 million as compared with $145 million a year ago. The Company ended the quarter with cash and short-term investments of $1.825 billion.

“Considering the slow down at retail we’ve seen in October, we are cautious in the short term,” said John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer. “Longer term, we are very bullish on the game sector overall and on EA in particular. The industry is growing double-digits on the strength of three new game consoles and increases in the number of homes with broadband internet connections. EA is well positioned to benefit from these technology drivers due to the strength of our creative studios and our broad collection of game properties--from The Sims, to Spore and Madden NFL, to Warhammer Online.”

  • Madden NFL 09 sold 4.5 million copies and was the number one title across all platforms in the quarter based on NPD data.
  • SPORE is a hit selling nearly 2.0 million copies in just 3 weeks – over 40 million creatures have been uploaded into Sporepedia™. SPORE is the number one title on the PC in North America and number three title in Europe year-to-date.
  • Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, an MMO from EA’s Mythic Entertainment studio, sold 1.2 million copies in the quarter – with over 800 thousand current players.
  • The EA SPORTS core portfolio of annual simulation games takes a step up in quality – up 4 points year-over-year according to Metacritic's aggregated review score system on the Xbox 360® and PLAYSTATION®3 entertainment systems.
  • EA was awarded 5 of the 9 honors at the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany –Spore as best PC game; Mirror’s Edge™ as best Xbox 360 game; Skate It as best Wii™ game; Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning as best online game; and Sonic Chronicles, a game developed by EA BioWare, won best Nintendo DS™ game.
  • EA Mobile is the world’s leading publisher of games for phones – with revenue of $47 million – up 24 percent year-over-year.
  • EA BioWare and LucasArts announced the development of Star Wars®: The Old Republic™, a story-driven massively multiplayer online PC game.
  • EA signs publishing agreements with Grasshopper Manufacture and Epic Games.

EA announced today a cost reduction plan, which will include the elimination of approximately 6% of the Company’s workforce. The Company estimates its cost reduction plan will result in annual pre-tax cost savings of approximately $50 million.

The following forward-looking statements, as well as those made above, reflect expectations as of October 30, 2008. Results may be materially different and are affected by many factors, including: development delays on EA’s products; competition in the industry; the health of the economy in the U.S. and abroad and the related impact on discretionary consumer spending; changes in anticipated costs; expected savings and impact on EA’s operations of the Company’s cost reduction plan; consumer demand for console hardware and the ability of the console manufacturers to produce an adequate supply of consoles to meet that demand; changes in foreign exchange rates; consumer demand for games for the PlayStation®2; the financial impact of potential future acquisitions by EA; the popular appeal of EA’s products; EA’s effective tax rate; and other factors detailed in this release and in EA’s annual and quarterly SEC filings.

Fiscal Year Expectations - Ending March 31, 2009

  • GAAP net revenue is expected to be between $4.9 and $5.15 billion as compared with $3.665 billion in the prior year - up 33 to 41 percent.
  • Non-GAAP net revenue is expected to be between $5.0 and $5.3 billion as compared with $4.020 billion in the prior year - up 24 to 32 percent.
  • GAAP diluted earnings per share are expected to be a diluted loss per share of $0.21 to diluted earnings per share of $0.07 as compared with a diluted loss per share of $1.45 in the prior year.
  • Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share are expected to be between $1.00 and $1.40 as compared with $1.06 in the prior year.
  • Expected non-GAAP net income excludes the following pre-tax items from expected GAAP net income:
  • $100 to $150 million for the impact of the change in deferred net revenue (packaged goods and digital content),
  • $211 million of estimated stock-based compensation,
  • $75 million of amortization of intangible assets,
  • $37 million of restructuring charges,
  • $40 million of losses on strategic investments,
  • $3 million in acquired-in process technology, and
  • $21 million of certain abandoned acquisition-related costs

In fiscal 2009, the Company began using a fixed, long-term projected tax rate of 28 percent internally to evaluate its operating performance, to forecast, plan and analyze future periods, and to assess the performance of its management team. Accordingly, the Company has applied the same 28 percent tax rate to its fiscal 2009 non-GAAP financial results. The Company expects its GAAP tax expense to be approximately $35 to $70 million for fiscal 2009.

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