Ea Reports Record Fiscal Year Results
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EA REPORTS SECOND QUARTER FISCAL 2007 RESULTS Q2 Net Revenue a Record $784 Million Driven by EA SPORTS Titles Need for Speed Carbon Debuts on 10 Platforms REDWOOD CITY, CA – November 2, 2006 – Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced preliminary financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended September 30, 2006. Fiscal Second Quarter Results Net revenue for the second quarter was $784 million, up 16 percent as compared with $675 million for the prior year. Sales were driven primarily by Madden NFL 07, NCAA® Football 07, FIFA 07, NBA Live 07 and catalog titles. Gross profit for the quarter was $445 million, up 14 percent year-over-year. Net income for the quarter was $22 million as compared with $51 million for the prior year. The Company adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 123R “Share-Based Payment” at the beginning of its fiscal year resulting in pre-tax stock-based compensation charges of $33 million in the second quarter. Diluted earnings per share were $0.07 as compared with $0.16 for the prior year. Non-GAAP net income was $65 million as compared with $46 million a year ago – an increase of 41 percent year-over-year. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.21 as compared with $0.15 for the prior year. (Please see Non-GAAP Financial Measures and reconciliation information included in this release.) Trailing twelve month operating cash flow was $571 million as compared with $592 million a year ago. The Company ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $2.4 billion. “We are well prepared for the holidays on all platforms, including the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and the Nintendo Wii,” said Larry Probst, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “In the quarter, we plan to release eight titles across multiple platforms and currently have more than 30 next-generation games in development.” “This was a strong quarter for EA,” said Warren Jenson, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer. “While our industry remains in the midst of transition the landscape looks strong enough that we are able to increase our guidance range for the year.” Highlights (comparisons are to the quarter ended September 30, 2005) Net revenue: North America – up 16 percent to a Q2 record $512 million; Europe – up 28 percent to a Q2 record $245 million; Asia – down 34 percent to $27 million. Movements in foreign currency rates positively impacted net revenue by $10 million, or one percent. Xbox 360™ revenue was $166 million – offsetting a 25 percent decline in current- generation console revenue. Year-to-date, EA is the number one publisher on the Xbox 360 in both North America and Europe. Madden NFL 07 had a record launch with five million copies sold in just five weeks. Year-to-date, Madden NFL 07 is the industry’s number one title in North America. NCAA Football 07 set a record – selling over 2 million copies in the quarter. NHL® 07 has gone platinum since launch. FIFA 07 had a strong international launch – selling nearly two million copies in just one week. EA has partnered with Apple® to bring its games to the iPod®. EA has joined with Massive and IGA to introduce dynamic in-game advertising to several titles. EA purchased Phenomic Games, a talented European developer of real time strategy games. EA closed the acquisition of Mythic Entertainment, the critically acclaimed developer of massively multiplayer online games. Business Outlook The following forward-looking statements, as well as those made above, reflect expectations as of November 2, 2006. Results may be materially different and are affected by many factors, such as: the timely release of next-generation hardware and the ability of console manufacturers to produce an adequate supply of consoles to meet demand; development delays on EA’s products; changes in foreign exchange rates; the overall global economy; the popular appeal of EA’s products; competition in the industry; EA’s effective tax rate and other factors detailed in this release and in EA’s annual and quarterly SEC filings. Fiscal Third Quarter Expectations – Ending December 31, 2006 Net revenue is expected to be between $1.2 and $1.3 billion. GAAP diluted earnings per share are expected to be between $0.33 and $0.43. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share are expected to be between $0.50 and $0.60. Expected non-GAAP diluted earnings per share exclude the following items from expected GAAP diluted earnings per share: approximately $0.09 of estimated stock- based compensation; approximately $0.04 related to the Company’s acquisition of Mythic Entertainment; approximately $0.03 of amortization of intangible assets; and approximately $0.01 of estimated restructuring charges related to the reorganization and establishment of an international publishing headquarters in Geneva. Fiscal Year Expectations – Ending March 31, 2007 Net revenue is expected to be between $2.950 and $3.125 billion – up from previous expectations of $2.8 to 3.0 billion GAAP diluted earnings per share are expected to be breakeven to $0.15 – versus previous expectations of ($0.30) to breakeven. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share are expected to be between $0.55 and $0.70 – up from previous expectations of $0.35 to $0.65. Expected non-GAAP diluted earnings per share excludes the following items from expected GAAP diluted earnings per share: approximately $0.33 of estimated stock-based compensation; approximately $0.13 of amortization of intangible assets; approximately $0.05 related to the Company’s acquisitions of Mythic Entertainment and Digital Illusions; and approximately $0.04 of estimated restructuring charges related to the reorganization and establishment of an international publishing headquarters in Geneva. Conference Call Electronic Arts will host a conference call today at 2:00 pm PT (5:00 pm ET) to review its results for the second quarter of fiscal 2007 and to discuss its outlook for the future. During the course of the call, Electronic Arts may also disclose material developments affecting its business and/or financial performance. Listeners may access the conference call live through the following dial- in number (800) 500-0311, access code 220497, or a webcast: http://investor.ea.com. A dial-in replay of the conference call will be provided until November 9, 2006 at (719) 457- 0820, access code 220497. A webcast archive of the conference call will be available for one year at http://investor.ea.com. Non-GAAP Financial Measures To supplement the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with GAAP, Electronic Arts uses certain non-GAAP measures of financial performance. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with the Company’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures used by Electronic Arts include non-GAAP operating income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) and historical and estimated non-GAAP diluted earnings (loss) per share. These non-GAAP financial measures exclude the following items from the Company’s statement of operations: Acquired in-process technology Amortization of intangibles Certain litigation expense Restructuring charges Stock-based compensation Income tax adjustments (consisting of the income tax effect of the items listed above and certain one-time income tax adjustments) In addition, Electronic Arts may consider whether other significant non-recurring items that arise in the future should also be excluded in calculating the non-GAAP financial measures it uses. Electronic Arts believes that these non-GAAP financial measures, when taken together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures, provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of the Company’s core business, operating results or future outlook. Electronic Arts’ management uses, and believes that investors benefit from referring to, these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing the Company’s operating results both as a consolidated entity and at the business unit level, as well as when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate comparisons of the Company’s performance to prior periods. In addition to the reasons stated above, which are generally applicable to each of the items Electronic Arts excludes from its non-GAAP financial measures, the Company believes it is appropriate to exclude certain items for the following reasons: Amortization of Intangibles. When analyzing the operating performance of an acquired entity, Electronic Arts’ management focuses on the total return provided by the investment (i.e., operating profit generated from the acquired entity as compared to the purchase price paid) without taking into consideration any allocations made for accounting purposes. Because the purchase price for an acquisition necessarily reflects the accounting value assigned to intangible assets (including acquired in-process technology and goodwill), when analyzing the operating performance of an acquisition in subsequent periods, the Company’s management excludes the GAAP impact of acquired intangible assets to its financial results. Electronic Arts believes that such an approach is useful in understanding the long-term return provided by an acquisition and that investors benefit from a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure that excludes the accounting expense associated with acquired intangible assets. In addition, in accordance with GAAP, Electronic Arts generally recognizes expenses for internally-developed intangible assets as they are incurred, notwithstanding the potential future benefit such assets may provide.