Thu, Oct 30, 2008 | 21:47 GMT
EA cuts 6% of workforce, posts quarterly loss
EA has posted a second quarter loss of $310 million, or 97 cents per share, the second in its fiscal year.
That was worse than the loss of $195 million, or 62 cents per share, a year earlier.
Sales jumped 40 percent to $894 million.
Highlights for the period were Madden 09 at 4.5 million units, Spore at nearly 2 million units and Warhammer Online at and 1.2 million copies.
The company said it is to drop 6 percent of its workforce, amounting to between 500 and 600 jobs. While some of these jobs are open, most will involve layoffs.
“Considering the slowdown at retail we’ve seen in October, we are cautious in the short term,” said EA boss John Riccitiello.
“Longer term, we are very bullish on the game sector overall and on EA in particular.”
The market reacted accordingly to the news. EA shares sank $4.03, or 14.5 percent, to $23.70 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed down 31 cents at $27.73.
More from the AP.
5 
Posted in: EA, Financials, Hot, Trade
Tags: ea q2 financials 09
5 comments
#1
Psychotext
30/10/08, 10:03 pm
Fun time to lose a job. =/
Good luck guys / girls.
#2
Big Stu
30/10/08, 10:27 pm
I imagine at one time there would’ve been people rejoicing at the idea of EA being on a downer…but loving Dead Space as much as i am, and having battered the Mirror’s Edge demo several times already, i hope people will appreciate how bad this news really is.
#3
scuz
30/10/08, 10:37 pm
it was all down hill since rolo to the rescue.
#4
David Sarkisjan
31/10/08, 1:54 am
Damn! I hate when people lose their jobs
#5
JPickford
31/10/08, 2:00 am
I think this is a fairly routine thing for EA. Dropping around 5% of their staff every year or so.