EA yesterday released financial results for their first quarter of fiscal 2008. It’s fair to say that they disappointed as the company said net revenue for the quarter was down four percent to $395 million as compared with $413 million for the prior year. Gross profit for the quarter was $229 million, down seven percent year-over-year. Net loss for the quarter was $132 million as compared with a net loss of $81 million for the prior year.
Sales were driven by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars, The Sims 2 Pets, Need for Speed Carbon and The Sims 2. PC sales made up 23% of company revenue, compared to 39% for consoles. PS2 led the pack with 16%, although that is down from as high as 35% in the second quarter of fiscal 2007. Xbox 360 led next-gen consoles, but not by much, with 12% of revenue, followed by 7% for Wii and 3% for PlayStation 3. However, since last fall, EA has released 8 games on Wii and PlayStation 3, compared to 11 on Xbox 360.
Revenue is actually down a full 38% on PS2 sales from EA for the first quarter year-over-year, down 23% on Xbox 360, 87% and 90% on both the Xbox and GameCube, respectively. Wii and PS3 were not available in the first quarter of EA’s fiscal calendar last year, and thus can not be included in the figures. Nintendo DS and PC were the only platforms with gains on revenue. The Nintendo DS was up an incredible 213% (PSP was down 43%) and PC was up a respectable 35%.
Geographically, Europe accounted for a majority of sales in the quarter, a first in recent company history. Since Q1 of fiscal 2007, North America has accounted for at least 50% of EA revenue, but that is down in the most recent quarter to only 41%. Europe was the biggest gainer with 52% of sales and Asia with 7%.
“Looking ahead, we have a strong slate,” said Warren Jenson, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer. “In the balance of the fiscal year, we plan to launch our full EA SPORTS lineup, Need for Speed Pro Street, MySims, Medal of Honor Airborne and ten new properties, including Army of Two, The Simpsons, SKATE, Boogie and Rock Band.” The other new properties include EA Playground, Warhammer Online, Smarty Pants, a Wii title jointly developed with Steven Spielberg, and Crysis.
