Game confident ahead of peak following improved second-half trading

• Sales excluding hardware up 7% in second half
• Hardware sales down 19%
• Gross profit up 9%

Game, which floated last year but warned on profits in January, said in a year-end trading update that second-half revenues excluding hardware rose 7%. Digital sales growth was 16%.

Hardware sales were down by 19% in the second half as a result of lower average selling prices.

The bias towards higher margin “content” sales and an overall improvement in margin means that gross profit in the second half will be up about 9% and adjusted EBITDA should be in in line with consensus expectations.

Game chief executive Martyn Gibbs said: “The group traded well throughout the second half.

“We are confident that our strategy of focusing on the recruitment and retention of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 owners across our two major territories [the UK and Spain] provides a solid foundation from which to drive growth over the medium term.

“We have made good progress on our customer and community engagement and strategic priorities over the year.

“Our ambition to broaden our offer beyond purely retail, to the places and ways in which our customers play games, is moving forward at pace, with continued support from our supplier partners.

“Our preparations for this year’s peak trading season are well advanced. The line-up of new physical and digital games launches in the coming months looks very strong and our pre-order rates on the major titles are encouraging, supported by our excellent range of exclusives.”