80 new stores for GAME as profits climb

High Street retailer GAME has revealed international profits have trebled for the year ended January 31, with profits from the online business also up by more than double the previous year.

International profits were GBP 6.1 million (EUR 8.9m) compared to GBP 1.6 million (EUR 2.3m) in 2006, with online profits more than doubled from GBP 0.7 million (EUR 1.02m) to 1.5 million (EUR 2.2m).

Sales at the specialist retailer were GBP 801.3 million (EUR 1.17bn) compared to 645.1 million (EUR 647.5) in 2006, with like-for-like sales up a massive GBP 16.2 million (EUR 23.7m) against GBP 4.2 million (EUR 6.1m) the previous year.

The company has plans to open a further 80 stores this year as well as continue its growing online presence.

"This good set of results demonstrates the appeal of GAME's specialist proposition and enhanced consumer offering," commented Peter Lewis, chairman of The Game Group.

"The industry transition to new technology is now complete and although we remain conscious of the competitive environment in which we operate, we believe the strength of our brand and our unique specialist offering gives us a robust consumer proposition."

"We have seen a strong start to the year in what is traditionally a quiet sales period for GAME, thanks to the PS3 launch, and hope to continue to build on our success throughout the year."