EA halves losses to $201m
Publisher beats expectations with sales of $884m; FIFA 11 passes 8m units sold-in
Electronic Arts has halved losses for the second quarter ended September 30, from $391 million (£243m) to $201 million (£125.3m).
The publisher exceed expectations, with adjusted revenue of $884 million, compared to an expected revenue in the range of $775 million to $825 million.
FIFA 11 was the big seller for the company, with 8 million units sold-in to retailers, and lifetime franchise sales of over 100 million units.
EA is also initiating a cost reduction plan based on restructuring licensing and developer agreements to improve its packaged goods business, incurring a one-off cost of $180 million, it said.
"We had another strong quarter, beating expectations both top and bottom line," said John Riccitiello, CEO.
"We credit our results to blockbusters like FIFA 11 and to innovative digital offerings like The Sims 3 Ambitions and Madden NFL 11 on the iPad."
The publisher claimed to be number one on "high-definition consoles" with 25 per cent of the market for the year-to-date.
It noted that in North America and Europe, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation software market was up a combined 23 per cent calendar year-to-date, and the PS3 software market up 36 per cent.
It also confirmed that Medal of Honor sold over 2 million units in two weeks during October.