GameStop reports increased sales and earnings
$1.8 billion revenues helped by bump in first-hand sales of key titles
GameStop has reported an increase in total sales for the quarter ending July 31, 2010 - rising 3.4 per cent to $1.80 billion (£1.15 billion), in comparison to $1.74 billion (£1.11 billion) in the same quarter for 2009. Net earnings saw an increase of 4.2 per cent to $40.3 million (£25.8 million) from $38.7 million (£24.8 million) in last year's second quarter.
An increase of 0.9 per cent in comparable store sales was largely attributed to sales of new hardware and games, while market share gains contributed to a 5.3 per cent increase in new videogame software sales.
The company's top five selling titles during the period were spread across formats, with Red Dead Redemption taking the top spot, followed by Super Mario Galaxy 2, UFC Undisputed 2010, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and NCAA Football 11.
GameStop's executive chairman, Dan DeMatteo, said "Based on the outstanding initial results of our new customer loyalty program and selling downloadable content (DLC) in stores, we will accelerate and complete the national roll-out of both programs in the third quarter.
"Additionally, we purchased Kongregate, a leading social gaming destination, to advance our digital strategy. These investments are evaluated with a focus of increasing return on invested capital over a period of time. In addition, we are reviewing the use of excess cash to enhance shareholder returns."
GameStop has opened 99 new stores this year: 48 in the US, 35 in Europe, 6 in Canada and 10 in Australia/New Zealand.