Shares in the Game Group have depressed 14% as the retailer of the games announced a fall of 28% in its annual profits and publicized that its Chief Executive is stepping down.
Chris Bell, Ladbrokes’ former boss, is going to replace Lisa Morgan as interim chief executive. The announcement was made as Game declared its full year results. There are reports that the UK chief operating officer of the firm, Terry Scicluna, has also submitted his resignation.
Pre-tax profits for the last year were £84.2 million, less than £117.4 million reported a year ago. Game puts the blame for the decline in its profits to the wider fall of video game sales. The firm claimed that it had conveyed its 2nd best trading performance in its history and had out-performed the market.
Peter Lewis, the chairman of the firm, said that the results of the firm were delivered in a very difficult business environment, which witnessed a decline of more than 20% in the global video games and PC market. Earlier, Game also cited the absence of important new console launches as a hindrance. However, there are expectations that revenue will continue to fall during the year, despite launches of new products from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.
Around 700 stores are operated by Game through UK, and 800 others in Australia and Europe. In the year 2009, the sales around the world saw an increase by 1.7%, but sales in UK and the Irish Republic reduced by 20%.
It is a fact that Game group is the biggest high street retailer across the world, and a majority of people still continue to shop there. May be, the year 2009 saw a massive recession period when all the luxury products like entertainment tools took a hit, and this was the reason for decrease in the sales of games. Things are expected to improve this year.
