Games sales revitalising HMV

Games are at the heart of HMVs revitalisation for the first half of this year as the company reveals that software and hardware represent 15 per cent of sales for the entertainment chain in the UK and Ireland, up from 9 per cent for the same period last year.

In Canada, where games were first introduced into its offering at the end of last year, five per cent of sales for the first half of the year are attributed to success in the gaming market.

Total sales for the entire HMV Group were GBP 790.2 million for the 26 weeks ended October 27, up from GBP 767.2 million for the same period last year.

Profit after tax was GBP 25.9 million, up from a loss of 26.1 million in 2006, boosted by the sale of HMV Japan for GBP 70.6 million.

"Less than a year into our three year strategic plan, we are pleased with progress," commented Simon Fox, chief executive of HMV.

"The Group's first half was driven in particular by like for like sales growth in HMV UK and Ireland, where we are successfully exploiting the high growth games and technology categories and increasing our share of music and DVD."

HMV has this year trialled a number of new store formats, including a dedicated console zone in Edinburgh and a PC gaming concession in London.

Although HMV is pleased with the performance of the first half of the year, the Christmas period will be the most crucial for 2007.

"At this stage, the most important days and weeks of our financial calendar are still ahead of us, and our stores and websites are very well prepared for Christmas," said Fox.