EA earnings dip in Q2, EA Mythic to stay intact

Gaming giant Electronic Arts has revealed the results of its fiscal second quarter of 2007 and a slight dip in revenues and increase in losses has been noted. Gross profits were down 45 percent year-over-year and is currently at US$ 245 million. Madden NFL 08‘s big sales and Warhammer Online‘s delay were seen as major factors in the company’s latest scorecard.

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Gaming giant Electronic Arts has revealed the results of its fiscal second quarter of 2007 and a slight dip in revenues and increase in losses has been noted. Gross profits were down 45 percent year-over-year and is currently at US$ 245 million. Madden NFL 08‘s big sales and Warhammer Online‘s delay were seen as major factors in the company’s latest scorecard.

EA’s second quarter sales were powered primarily by the EA Sports division riding on releases such as Madden NFL 08, FIFA 08, NCAA Football 08, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, and My Sims. These were mostly cross-platform launches amounting to a sum of 58 SKUs released in Q2 2007 by EA.

Of all its releases, EA Sports’ Madden NFL 08 performed the best with 4.5 million copies sold worldwide. The bulk of the sales came from the key North American market.

EA’s Net loss for the quarter was US$ 195 million as compared with net income of US$ 22 million for the prior year. Diluted loss per share was US$ 0.62 as compared with earnings per share of US$ 0.07 for the prior year.

Word of a corporate restructuring encompassing all of EA’s gaming divisions also spread, fueling rumors of EA Mythic getting broken up. EA Mythic is EA’s online gaming division responsible for the development of the title Warhammer Online which has been delayed for twice – the recent one leading to fiscal 2009.

This buzz was immediately hushed by EA CEO John Riccitiello who assured EA Mythic that it will remain intact:

I want to emphasize to the team at Mythic that, no, we are not having you be part of our restructuring. That’s not in the plan. We are investing in the growth of that studio, and the Warhammer slip is a simple one.

More on EA’s restructuring as they update.