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Retailer GAME needs a big couple of days before Christmas to help reverse what has been a poor pre-Christmas spell for the company.
It has reported a 6.7 per cent decline in gross transactional value to 466.8m across the group for the 21 weeks ending December 19th. UK gross transactional value was down a massive 11.4 per cent at 353.5m. Spanish GTV was up 8.1 per cent.
Low margin console sales were the largest contributor, falling 20.3 per cent. The rapid decline of last-gen sales, down 56.7 per cent, was also highlighted.
It also estimates total decline in the video games market by 13.5 per cent year-on-year, although this number ignores the growing digital sector that GAME has previously so loudly hailed its success in. A 91.8 per cent increase in newer categories such as GAMEtronics was not enough to offset these numbers.
The trading conditions in the UK video games market have been challenging,” CEO Martyn Gibbs said.
The switch over from the older gaming formats to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One software has impacted profitability across the UK market.
The extent of the impact of this switch over has only become apparent in December which has been compounded by lower year on year high street and shopping centre footfall. The pre-Christmas period and the winter sale are very important to our customers and with market leading offers we remain well prepared in our stores and online for the remaining peak trading period.”
GAME predicts adjusted EBITDA for the 26 weeks ending January 23rd 2016 will be around 30m.
