fiscal-2014
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Capcom drops sales forecasts ahead of year-end results
Capcom revised its consolidated earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending on March 31, lowering its net sales expectations from 80,000 million yen ($673 million) to 65,000 million yen ($547 million). The change represents an 18.75 percent decline, which Capcom said is "primarily due to the severe impact on pachislo machine sales," thanks to "the delay in the introduction of a new model." Capcom added that "delays in the launches of some midrange titles in the Digital Contents business" also impacted its projections. While the publisher did not specify what previously-delayed digital games were the culprit, it did push back the beta for its online RPG Deep Down (seen above) to 2015 back in late August. Capcom also delayed the Japanese launch of Breath of Fire 6: Guardians of the White Dragons to this coming spring as of late July. [Image: Capcom]
Sega slashes profit forecasts by 36 percent
Sega announced an adjustment to its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, cutting its expected net income by 36.2 percent. The company adjusted its projected net income to be 30 billion yen ($293.5 million), down from its previously-reported amount, 47 billion yen ($459.8 million). Additionally, it expects its net sales to be 377 billion yen ($3.69 billion), a 22.3 percent decrease from its original projection of 485 billion yen ($4.75 billion). Sega cited a decline in its pachislot and pachinko machine business for the change in projections. The company cut its pachislot machine sales projection by 171,000 units and its pachinko machine sales projection by 304,700 units for the fiscal year. The biggest cut comes to Sega's projected operating income: a 49.3 percent slide from 73 billion yen ($714.2 million) to 37 billion yen ($362 million). Should Sega meet its new projections, it would amount to a year-on-year increase in net sales and operating income by 17.3 percent and 94 percent, respectively, but would also represent a 10.3 percent decrease in net income. [Image: Sega]
EA reports $308 million loss in Q3 2014
Electronic Arts reported a net loss of $308 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2014, a period of three months stretching from October 1, 2013 through the end of December. The company reported a net revenue of $808 million, which compares unfavorably to the $922 million reported during the same quarter last year. It is a 16.3 percent increase from last quarter's reported $695 million earnings, however. EA reported that 50.7 percent ($410 million) of its earnings came from digital sales, calling out a 60 percent increase in FIFA Ultimate Team, Madden NFL Ultimate Team and NHL Ultimate Team sales on a non-GAAP basis (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). It reported a trailing twelve-month total revenue of $3.66 billion, and projects its revenue for fiscal 2014 (the year ending March 31) to be $3.52 billion, $1.07 billion of which is expected to come in the next quarter.
EA reports $273 million loss in second quarter of fiscal 2014
EA released its financial report for the second quarter of fiscal 2014, a period of time that stretched from July 2013 through the end of September, reporting a net loss of $273 million during that time. The publisher saw a two percent decline in net revenue compared to the same three-month time frame last year, as total revenue reported by EA in the last quarter was $695 million. This was a 26.8 percent decrease from the first quarter and was 11.2 percent above the company's projections for the second quarter. The company noted its decision to exclude its $40 million college football lawsuit settlement from its non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial measures and when "evaluating its operating performance and the performance of its management team during this period and will continue to do so when it plans, forecasts and analyzes future periods." The settlement was first announced in late September, at which point the publisher canceled the 2014 college football game that was no longer bearing the NCAA name. EA is projecting $775 million in net revenue for the third quarter, which ends December 31.
FIFA's digital revenue tops $145 million in first half of fiscal 2014
EA's FIFA series has generated over $145 million in digital net revenue in the first half of fiscal 2014, a period that stretched from April 1, 2013 through September 30, 2013. The news came from EA's Q2 2014 earnings report, and was derived on a non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) basis. EA reported that FIFA's digital revenue saw an increase of 25 percent over the first half of fiscal 2013. The publisher reported $70 million in digital revenue from FIFA 13 in the first quarter of 2013. FIFA 14 launched at the end of September and features legendary soccer players in its popular Ultimate Team mode on Microsoft consoles, which accounts for a chunk of its digital revenue sales.
Profits decline in Capcom's Q1 financial results
Capcom has posted its financial results for the first quarter of its fiscal 2014 calendar, and despite continued strong sales of its Resident Evil 5 pachislo machine, overall profits are down. When compared to the same period last year, profits were down by 37 percent: ¥828 million ($8.4 million) in Q1 2014 vs. ¥1.32 billion ($13.4 million) in Q1 2013. The report says that these results are "generally in line with the fiscal year targets," which predict profits of ¥6.8 billion ($69.1 million) for the year in total. Capcom's major releases for the three month period ending June 30 were the console/PC ports of Resident Evil: Revelations, and pseudo-expansion/rerelease Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. Revelations performed best at retail out of the two, selling 900,000 units worldwide since the game's release on May 21 in North America. Meanwhile, Dark Arisen has sold 550,000 units since its release on April 23. The document made only brief mention of recent layoffs at the company, saying that "reorganization (development, overseas subsidiaries) is now under way in association with the prior year's business structural improvements." This was listed under "Growth Strategy Initiatives," which is business-speak for "How We're Going to Get Dat Paper." This subsection also contained the document's sole mention of Monster Hunter 4's impending September 14 release in Japan. In related news, Capcom appears to have invented a time-travel device, as it also plans on releasing a Devil May Cry 4-themed pachislo machine this September.
EA reports flat first quarter of fiscal 2014
EA has released its financial report for the first quarter of fiscal 2014, which spans the three month period ending on June 30. When compared with the publishing goliath's performance during that same window in fiscal 2013, there wasn't a tremendous amount of change in terms of either revenue or profit. Total revenue (read: income) for the period tallied up at $949 million; not even one percent less than the $955 million earned by the end of Q1 2013. Meanwhile, post-tax, post-operating expense profit for Q1 of fiscal 2014 was $222 million, which was a 10-percent increase over the $201 million in profit gained during the same time last year. Looking forward, EA expects about $625 million in revenue for the second quarter, but does expect a loss for the soft summer months.
Gibeau: NBA Live coming in fiscal 2014 [Update: Planned for next-gen systems]
EA will launch a game in the NBA Live series in the 2014 fiscal year (April 2013 through March 2014), President of EA Labels Frank Gibeau said during EA's fiscal 2013 year-end investor call. Gibeau listed NBA Live among the publisher's core sports titles as one of 11 games the publisher is planning for the fiscal year. The standard launch window for NBA games is in October. EA canceled NBA Live 13 in September 2012 after opting to "sit out the full year and stay focused on making next year's game great." The series has had a lengthy history of not seeing publication, starting with NBA Elite 11 being canceled in November 2010. Update: Gibeau listed NBA Live as one of the games that EA has planned for next-generation consoles. He also noted that the publisher has a "brand new engine from EA Sports," that will be seen at E3 in June.
