Wii a winner as Game lifts profits forecast

Published on Monday 31 December 2007 20:33

GAME Group, the specialist PC and video game retailer, is set to smash profit expectations after a surge in demand for Nintendo DS and Wii games.

The group said yesterday that sales had continued to soar since it last updated the market on 11 December, when it reported a 44 per cent surge in like-for-like sales.

Game said it now expected pre-tax profits before one-off costs to be at least 70 million for the year to the end of January, more than double the 29.5m reported the previous year.

The results will benefit from the recent acquisition of Gamestation. The firm said one-off costs associated with the 74m takeover, which received provisional clearance from the Competition Commission in December, would be about 8m. This includes costs of 4.5m for complying with the Competition Commission probe into the deal and a further 3.5m relating to the integration of Gamestation.

Game Group shares rose 8 per cent yesterday.

The Basingstoke-based group said in December that strong demand for all product formats, including the DS Lite and Wii, had led to "exceptional sales growth".

Sales were up 44 per cent on a like-for-like basis during the 45 weeks to 8 December, while they rose by 89 per cent once the Gamestation figures were included.

Game Group added 333 new stores to its portfolio in 2007, including 217 acquired through its takeover of Gamestation, bringing its total number of outlets to 1,150.