EA shows increase in revenue, but losses widen

Drive for quality over quantity the reason?

14 May 2008 12:23 GMT / By Verity Burns

Top games publisher Electronic Arts has posted its financial results for the fiscal year ending 31 March, with the company showing substantial losses despite revenue increasing year-on-year.

It is thought that a drive for quality after a few years of unimpressive releases from the publisher has pushed up costs.

Total revenue stood at $3.67 billion, up 19% on the previous year, while Q4 revenue saw a leap of 81% to USD 1.13 billion.

However, there was an overall net loss of $454 million, compared to a profit of $76 million the previous year.

"A year ago, we committed to an aggressive change agenda at EA", said CEO John Riccitiello. "Our employees stepped up to the challenge and we finished fiscal year 2008 with non-GAAP revenue up 30 per cent to USD 4 billion - a record for any third-party publisher. Our operating margins were flat to our prior year."

"On balance, we're very pleased with our revenue growth, but not yet happy with our profit margins. In fiscal 2009, we expect to deliver another USD 1 billion in revenue growth and to double our operating profit on the strength of our slate of titles."

For this year, EA has declared itself as the number one publisher across all platforms, claiming a 19% share of sales in North America and 20% in Europe.

Full tags

Gaming, Xbox 360, PS3, EA, Statistics, Results, Sony, Microsoft, Activision, Nintendo