Electronic Arts warns on 2008 profit; shares drop

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS.O) posted a wider quarterly loss on Tuesday and forecast fiscal-2008 adjusted profit below expectations, saying its widely anticipated video game, "Spore," could be delayed.

Shares of the world's biggest video game publisher fell 3 percent in extended trading.

The company, which sells games like "Madden," "Need for Speed" and "The Sims," forecast adjusted profit of 90 cents to $1.20 per share for the year, compared with analysts' average target of $1.31. It forecast a net loss for fiscal 2008.

Redwood City, California-based Electronic Arts said it taken out "Spore," a game where players build organisms from scratch, from its financial projections for the fiscal year ending in March 2008, adding that the game could be delayed until fiscal 2009.

In the fourth quarter ended March 31, the company said its net loss widened to $25 million, or 8 cents per share, from $16 million, or 5 cents, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding items, the company earned 6 cents per share versus 14 cents in the year-earlier period.

Revenue fell 4 percent to $613 million from $641 million.

Analysts, on average, estimated a profit excluding items of 2 cents per share on revenue of $586.4 million, according to Reuters Estimates.