GAME Digital posts full year loss
Game Digital has reported a full year loss after it struggled against a “challenging” UK market.
In the year to 29 July, the company made a pre-tax loss of £10 million compared to a profit of £1.1 million in the previous year.
Group transaction value fell by 2.4% to £891 million in the year although it rose by 6.6% in the second half.
Meanwhile, group adjusted EBITDA was £8 million compared to a previous £25.6 million. In the company’s core retail business, EBITDA fell from £28.7 million to £14 million.
GAME said its UK retail performance was impacted by a challenging market in the period, particularly in the first half, with a weaker line up of new game launches compared with the prior year and the under performance of a key new release.
Martyn Gibbs, GAME chief executive, said: “Though our markets remained volatile last year, we made solid strategic progress as we continued to focus on those elements within our control; delivering on each of the four pillars of our strategy and creating a new cost base for our UK retail business.”
Looking at current trading, the company said group retail transaction value is up 5.4% in the first 15 weeks of the new financial year reflecting the benefits of Nintendo Switch, the recent launch of Xbox One X and a stronger performance from new game releases this year.
Over the same 15 week period, mint sales in UK and Spain are up on last year by 8.8% and 10.7% respectively.
Gibbs added: “Whilst we remain mindful of the structural headwinds that remain in our core markets, we expect recent positive market dynamics to continue into our peak Christmas trading period, driven by strong growth in all elements of the PlayStation 4 category, continued customer demand for the Nintendo Switch, the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox One X and continued stronger demand for related software.
“Against this market backdrop, our priorities remain unchanged. Across the group we are focussed on maximising the opportunities from our core retail markets by delivering a compelling and constantly improving customer proposition, realising further operational efficiencies and driving the continued transformation of the business, as we transition our business from a leading retailer of boxed products to a leading provider of physical and digital gaming products, services and experiences.”
