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EA Mobile Q3 FY12 sales up 19% to $70 million

Accounts for 26% of digital revenue

EA Mobile Q3 FY12 sales up 19% to $70 million
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EA (NASDAQ: ERTS) has announced its preliminary Q3 FY12 financials for the three month period ending December 31.

Mobile revenues were $70 million, up 19 percent year-on-year.

This accounted for 26 percent of EA's digital revenue and 7 percent of total sales.

During the quarter, smartphone sales were up 70 percent year-on-year. EA said its feature phone and smartphone sales each accounted for half its sales.

On a trailing 12 month basis (a metric the company is now using religiously), EA Mobile's annual revenue is $268 million, compared to $230 million for its formal FY11 period.

In the hand

The company claimed it was the number one game publisher in the Apple App Store during December, also highlighting that The Sims: FreePlay reached the number one position on the list of top-grossing iPad Apps.

Combined mobile, DS and PSP sales (what EA labels Mobile and Handheld) were $99 million, down 24 percent year-on-year due to the continued falloff from the portable consoles).

Higher and higher

Interestingly, in terms of non generally accepted accounting principles (non-GAAP), EA Mobile's sales were much higher $83 million, up 30 percent year-on-year.

It's likely this total includes additional sales from recent acquisitions, notably PopCap, that can't be included in the formal GAAP rules.

EA said that PopCap sales were up 30 percent on a trailing 12 month basis. Around 30 percent of PopCap's 2010 sales were thought to be from mobile activity.

Origin bloom

"We are pleased to report a strong holiday quarter driven by Battlefield 3, FIFA12 and a strong showing by our digital games and services," said CEO John Riccitiello.

"We recorded our highest operating cash flow in 31 quarters and grew segment share in both Europe and North America," added CFO Eric Brown.

"Third quarter non-GAAP digital revenue grew 79 percent year-over year, and we achieved our goal of generating over $1 billion in non-GAAP digital revenue on a trailing-twelve-month basis."

Other notable numbers included 1.7 million active subscribers for online game Star Wars: The Old Republic and 9.3 million users of the company's Origin social and distribution platform.

Flat by the book

Overall, EA had Q3 GAAP sales of $1.061 billion compared to $1.053 billion 12 months ago.

It made a net loss of $205 million, compared to a loss of $322 million in Q3 FY11.

Cash flow from operations was $475 million.

EA ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and liquid securities of $1.8 billion compared to $2.0 billion 12 months ago.

It also has a convertible debt of $534 million raised for PopCap acquisition.

[source: EA (press release/PDF detail)

Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.