Q2 sales up at GameStop

Video games retailer GameStop has reported a 3.4 per cent increase in overall sales to $1.08bn for the quarter ending June 30th 2010.

Like-for-like store sales increased by 0.9 per cent thanks mostly to a 5.3 per cent jump in the sale of new games. Net earnings for the period grew by 4.2 per cent to $40.3m.

The best selling games in the period were Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar), Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo), UFC Undisputed 2010 (THQ), Starcraft II (Blizzard) and NCAA Football 11 (EA).

In the year-to-date GameStop opened a total of 99 new stores – 48 in the US, 35 in Europe, six in Canada and ten across Australia and New Zealand.

GameStop’s second quarter results demonstrate the resiliency of our business model as we achieved both top-line and earnings growth despite the ongoing volatility in the global economy,” CEO Paul Raines stated.

Our US operations were strong relative to the industry with solid comparable store sales and continued new video game market share gains. Internationally, we continue to focus on the execution of GameStop’s buy-sell-trade model to improve operational efficiencies.”

Executive chairman Dan DeMatteo added: 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.”