THQ 2008 Annual Report Download - page 49

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Selling and Marketing (in thousands)
Year Ended Year Ended
March 31, 2008 % of net sales March 31, 2007 % of net sales % change
$175,288 17.0% $139,958 13.6% 25.2%
Selling and marketing expenses consist of advertising, promotional expenses, and personnel-related costs.
In fiscal 2008, selling and marketing expenses increased on a dollar basis by $35.3 million as compared to
fiscal 2007. This increase was primarily due to the following:
• promotional efforts to support our owned intellectual properties Stuntman: Ignition and Juiced 2:
Hot Import Nights in fiscal 2008 as compared to Saints Row in fiscal 2007,
• promotional efforts to support the launch of Frontlines: Fuel of War, released on PC and Xbox 360
in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, and to establish this new title as a core franchise going forward,
and
• an increase in selling and marketing spend to support WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2008 in fiscal 2008
as compared to WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2007 in fiscal 2007.
In fiscal 2008, selling and marketing expenses increased by 3.4 points as a percentage of net sales as
compared to fiscal 2007. This increase is primarily due to the following:
• promotional efforts to support the launch of Frontlines: Fuel of War, released on PC and Xbox 360
in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, and to establish this new title as a core franchise going forward,
• promotional efforts to support our owned intellectual properties Stuntman: Ignition and Juiced 2:
Hot Import Nights relative to their sales performance in fiscal 2008 as compared to Saints Row
relative to its sales performance in fiscal 2007, and
• promotional efforts to support Ratatouille relative to its sales performance in fiscal 2008 as
compared to Cars relative to its sales performance in fiscal 2007.
General and Administrative (in thousands)
Year Ended Year Ended
March 31, 2008 % of net sales March 31, 2007 % of net sales % change
$69,901 6.8% $78,413 7.6% (10.9)%
General and administrative expenses consist of personnel and related expenses of executive and
administrative staff, as well as fees for professional services such as legal and accounting. General and
administrative expenses decreased by $8.5 million in fiscal 2008 as compared to fiscal 2007. The decrease
was primarily due to:
• lower professional fees in fiscal 2008 as compared to fiscal 2007, which included incremental
professional fees related to an informal SEC inquiry into our stock option grant practices, and
• lower stock-based compensation charges in fiscal 2008 related to the departure of certain
executives.
Interest and Other Income, net
Interest and other income, net consists of interest earned on our investments as well as gains and losses
resulting from exchange rate changes for transactions denominated in currencies other than the functional
currency. Interest and other income, net increased by $2.6 million in fiscal 2008 as compared to fiscal 2007.
The increase in fiscal 2008 was primarily due to higher average yields on higher average investment
balances.
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