Electronic Arts posts wider quarterly loss

By Scott Hillis

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's biggest video game publisher, posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Wednesday due to a boost from hits such as its latest "Harry Potter" title.

Electronic Arts also raised its revenue forecast for the full year, citing strong buzz for upcoming music game "Rock Band," which it is distributing on behalf of MTV (VIAb.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Chief Executive John Riccitiello said he was counting on "Rock Band" and other expected hits such as "Madden NFL 08" to reverse a slide in EA's market share.

"They clearly over performed in Q1. Q2 was a little weaker in terms of guidance, but importantly for fiscal 2008 they actually raised their top line," said Mike Hickey, an analyst with Janco Partners.

"The first blush is this company is performing as expected and we continue to see upside," Hickey said.

EA said revenue for its current, second quarter would be between $825 million and $910 million, below the $953 million that was the average analyst forecast on Reuters Estimates.

But the company raised its full-year revenue forecast by $50 million, to between $3.65 billion and $3.85 million. Wall Street had been estimating revenue of $3.69 billion.

Those estimates exclude the effects of an accounting change that means EA will book revenue from online-enabled games as subscriptions over several quarters rather than all at once at the time of sale.