REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—Increasing mobile gaming revenues weren’t enough to offset a hefty quarterly loss for Electronic Arts Inc.
The publishing giant reported a $16 million net loss for the quarter ended March 31, marking a dramatic swing from the $8 million net profit EA earned during the same period last year. Revenue climbed to $641 million during the quarter, up 16 percent from the year-ago period, but the company said it suffered a $54 million tax bill after it repatriated $375 million in overseas earnings.
There was encouraging news from its wireless gaming division, though, as cellular games rang up $15 million in sales. Mobility-based net revenue—which includes mobile phones as well as Gameboy-type devices—was $393 million for the fiscal year, up 233 percent compared with the previous year.
But while much of the mobile gaming business can be credited to Jamdat Mobile Inc., which EA acquired earlier this year for a hefty $680 million, so can much of the slump in profits. EA had warned in February of a substantial quarterly loss largely due to charges related to the acquisition.
Investors soured on the news as well as EA’s full-year profit forecast, which was substantially below analysts’ expectations. Shares of the publisher were down $5.76, or 11 percent, to $48.74 after the news.
