Shares in retailer Game Group (LON:GMG) rose on Wednesday, after first half results came in ahead of expectations.
The company’s figures were boosted by a 23.1 percent rise in Gross Transaction Value in its Spanish division, bringing the overall figure for the to group to 6.8 percent. Its UK stores continued to see a slowdown, with GTV coming in 1.3 percent lower, but strong performance in other markets meant the figure came in ahead of previous expectations of between 5 and 6 percent.
Sales were boosted by the release of the Nintendo Switch console in March, with the expected launch of the new XBox later this year also hoping to boost figures. UK and Spanish video games sales rose 8.8 percent and 15.7 percent respectively in the second half.
The group said it had made good progress in delivering its UK Action Plan, initiated in January 2016 to “address the challenges faced in its core console markets in the UK.”
Martyn Gibbs, Chief Executive Officer of GAME Digital, commented:
“GAME has made further progress in the second half of the year as we continue to focus on developing our strategic initiatives whilst creating a new cost base for our UK retail business to address the challenges in the UK console market.
“We have been encouraged by the recent growth in both the UK and Spanish markets overall and we expect that this momentum will continue into peak trading driven by the benefits of continued customer demand for the Nintendo Switch(TM) , the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox One X and a strong line up of new games releases.
“GAME has now opened 18 BELONG(TM) arenas, and we have seen encouraging early performance. We have reviewed our operations and are now accelerating development plans as we seek to fully capitalise on the strong growth potential in our exciting and growing esports activity”, Gibbs concluded.