Today, Electronic Arts reported their earnings summaries for both the previous fiscal quarter and fiscal year ended on March 31. While Q4 2010 was stronger than the same time last year, due mostly to the strong performance of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the fiscal year was still a net loss overall. For Q4 2010, EA reported a net income of $30 million, as opposed to last year's net loss of $42 million. For the fiscal year ending on March 30, 2010 the company posted a net loss of $677 million, down from last year's net loss of $1 billion. Net revenues for the fourth quarter jumped $119 million to $979 million while sales for the full year decreased from $4.2 billion to $3.65 billion.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was a large boost to the quarter, pushing EA's bottom line forward with 5 million units sold. “We had an excellent fourth quarter, driving record-breaking non-GAAP revenue in the fiscal year,” said EA CEO John Riccitiello. “Battlefield: Bad Company 2 outperformed, which contributed to revenue at the high end of our guidance range, and we exceeded our expectations on the bottom line.”
EA boasted a number of highlights for the fiscal year. Five EA titles pushed more than 5 million units during the fiscal year: the aforementioned Battlefield: Bad Company 2, along with FIFA 10, Madden NFL 10, The Sims 3, and Need For Speed: Shift. FIFA 10 alone sold a whopping 10 million units worldwide since launch. The Sims franchise has sold over 125 million units worldwide. Battlefield 1943 for PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade sold over 1.5 million units, making it the best selling download-only title on both platforms.
The company looks to keep the heat on in the coming year, with 28 console titles, 18 handheld or mobile titles, and 17 PC titles planned for release over the course of the fiscal year ending on March 2011. Notable titles include the recently released Skate 3, FPS MMO All Points Bulletin, Crysis 2, Epic Games' Bulletstorm, a new Spore entry, The Sims 3 for console, Dead Space 2, and three Need for Speed titles, counting the racing MMO Need For Speed World. The Playfish acquisition is also making headway with the first release being EA Sports' FIFA Superstars for the Facebook platform.
Eric Brown, Chief Financial Officer noted that EA's "digital businesses are expected to grow approximately 30%.” With DLC and "Project $10" seeing more emphasis from the publisher with more and more titles, and the recently announced Online Pass, this comes as littler surprise.
