EA trims full-year losses to $677 million

Less than one week after its archrival Activision Blizzard reported a January-March quarterly income of $381 million on revenues of $1.3 billion, Electronic Arts has delivered its annual and fourth-quarter earnings. Suffice it to say, the results weren't nearly as pretty.

For the full fiscal year, EA posted net revenues of $3.654 billion, well off the $4.212 billion it reported for the year prior. Blunting this decline, EA noted that it ended the year with $766 million in deferred income, or money related to certain online services that it will recognize over individual games' lifetimes. Having reported a $1.09 billion deficit last year, EA said today that losses for the just-ended fiscal period amounted to $677 million.

Considering the strength of EA's top-of-the-year lineup, it comes as no surprise that the publisher had a strong fiscal fourth quarter. During the January-March window, revenues hit $979 million, up 14 percent from the $860 million posted during the same period in 2009. EA also turned a $30 million profit during the quarter, reversing last year's loss of $42 million.

EA Dice's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 led the publisher's offerings during the quarter. To date, the top-rated modern-day shooter has sold some 5 million units on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Other top performers during the quarter included BioWare's highly regarded Mass Effect 2 and Visceral's less-than-stellar Dante's Inferno. During the year, FIFA 10, Madden NFL 10, The Sims 3, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Need for Speed: Shift all sold in excess of 4 million units.

Though its release came outside the fiscal year, EA also trumpeted the fast start of 2010 FIFA World Cup: South Africa. The soccer sim--which scored high marks on the Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, and Wii last month--has already sold nearly 2 million units to date.

As it did last quarter, EA also laid out its release schedule for its in-progress fiscal year ending March 31, 2011. Notably the updated release lineup includes a few alterations. Previously slated for a first quarter release, EA now expects to launch Need for Speed World during the July-September quarter. EA also appears to have delayed its unspecified "Action Title TBA ('full game download' for consoles)" out of the fiscal year.

EA expects to pull in $710 million to $750 million during its April-June 2010 quarter, with earnings per share to come in between a $0.05 loss to a $0.05 gain. While those figures are in line with last quarter's projections, EA revised its full-year earnings expectations range, anticipating it now to fall between $3.35 billion and $3.60 billion. Loss per share is now expected to come in between $0.85 and $1.15.

During a call with analysts, EA CEO John Riccitiello, COO John Schappert, and CFO Eric Brown discussed highlights of the previous and coming years. These included:

--The executive team noted that Mass Effect 2 has sold through more than 1.6 million units through both retail and digital means in Europe and North America. In January, the publisher said BioWare's acclaimed sci-fi role-playing game had shipped 2 million units worldwide.

--Dante's Inferno has now sold nearly 1 million units, while Army of Two: The 40th Day has sold more than 1 million units.

--Somewhat mysteriously, Schappert said that EA will "show a marquee title in breathtaking 3D" at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.