International growth and sales of Playstation 3 drive profits at games retailer

The launch of the Playstation 3 and a strong international performance drove entertainment retailer Game's profits up in the first half of the year.

The PC and video games retailer reported like-for-like sales growth of 45.6 per cent and pre-tax profit of£2.7 million for the six months to July 31, against a loss of£7.1 million for the same period last year.

Game chairman Peter Lewis said: “The strong performance today is a result of our hard work in getting Game properly positioned ahead of the new technology cycle. We will continue to innovate and broaden our offer in an increasingly competitive retail environment.

We have a fast-growing international business and are well placed for further organic growth. We look forward to the key Christmas trading period when our store portfolio will exceed 1,120 across the UK, Continental Europe and Australia.”

Sales for the eight weeks to September 22 rose 101.3 per cent, with a like-for-like increase of 44.9 per cent, despite a strong comparative period, which included the launch of Nintendo DS Lite.