FY08 "Best Year In History" For Activision News
Chris Leyton
09/05/2008
Leading up to the impending Vivendi merger, Activision announces record breaking growth...
Fuelled by the success of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Guitar Hero III, Activision today reported its best year in history for the fiscal 2008 period.
Reporting net revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31st 2008 of $2.90 billion, as compared to $1.51 billion for the year ended March 31st 2007. As a result net income for the publisher jumped from $85.8 million for the last fiscal year to $344.9 million in FY08.
Net revenues for the fourth quarter ended March 31st 2008 saw a dramatic increase to $602.5 million, from $312.5 million that the company reported for the fourth quarter of the previous year. Net income for the quarterly period stood at $44.2 million, compared to a net loss of $14.4 million for the fiscal year 2007 fourth quarter.
Robert Kotick, Chairman and CEO of Activision, Inc. commented, "Fiscal 2008 was the best year in our history and Q4 was the largest and most profitable non-holiday quarter, even though we did not release any new titles. During the fiscal year, we were the #1 U.S. console and handheld publisher in dollars for the first time ever, according to The NPD Group, and we grew our worldwide share of the console, handheld and PC markets year over year. We achieved record financial performance significantly growing both net revenues and earnings per share. And, we delivered a record operating margin of 16.5% on a GAAP basis, and 18.4% on a non-GAAP basis, excluding the impact of equity-based compensation, and we increased stockholders' equity by 38%."
Kotick continued, "In fiscal 2009, we expect to deliver another year of growth. We remain committed to strengthening our global leadership position by continuing to execute on our growth strategies and cost-optimization initiatives. We own or control some of the most successful brands in interactive entertainment, and we will continue to focus our resources on proven properties with broad global appeal. Our solid lineup, which includes new titles based on such blockbuster brands as Call of Duty(r), Guitar Hero(r) and James Bond, should enable us to continue capitalizing on growth in interactive entertainment consumption worldwide."
Kotick added, "With respect to our pending combination with Vivendi Games, we are on track to complete our transaction, which will create the world's largest and most profitable independent video game company. We are pleased that Blizzard's business maintained its momentum, and combined with our continued business strength, we are well positioned to exceed the financial goals we have set for the combined company at the time of the deal announcement. The combination of Activision's solid portfolio and Vivendi Games proven properties should enable us to continue delivering exceptional returns to our stockholders."
Looking ahead, Activision hints at several delays to titles originally planned for release in the current fiscal year ending March 31st 2009. The publisher also suggests that online functionality for key titles released in the December quarter of 2009 is expected to become a significant component, for which the publisher expects to begin realising a substantial amount of net revenues and costs of sales from these online-enabled titles.
Without taking into account the impact of the Vivendi Games merger, Activision expects net revenues for fiscal year 2009 to stand at $2.75 billion with first quarter net revenues of $500 million.