EA reports net loss of $95m for Q1
But Battlefield: Bad Company sells 1.6 million units to help sales more than double to $804 million
Electronic Arts has reported a net loss for the first quarter of the 2009 fiscal year of USD 95 million.
The loss is better than the USD 111 million expected from some analysts, and is also an improvement of the USD 132 million net loss for the same period in the prior year.
Net sales for the first quarter hit USD 804 million, up USD 409 million from the USD 395 million for the same period in the 2008 financial year.
The biggest sales were attributed to Battlefield: Bad Company which sold 1.6 million units, UEFA Euro 2008 and the continued strength of the Rock Band game.
"We are now seeing the early returns of the change agenda we started last year," said John Riccitiello, CEO.
"Innovation and quality are rising, our games are more accessible and fun, and we have more new titles than at any time in our history.
"From Spore on the PC to Dead Space on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to MySims on the Wii and Nintendo DS to Scrabble on the iPhone and Facebook, this is the best title portfolio in the company's history," he added.
The company added that in the year to date EA is the number one publisher in the US with 17 per cent segment share, and number two in Europe with 14 per cent segment share.
EA also singled out EA Mobile as the "world's leading publisher of games for phones," with the division recording USD 44 million in sales, up 33 per cent year-on-year.
Update: In an call to investors following the release of the company financials, EA revealed that digital downloads accounted for USD 90 million in revenue in the first quarter.