Retail chain Game has said strong Christmas demand for new video games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops and FIFA 11 helped it deliver an improved sales performance over the festive period.
Game saw UK and Ireland like-for-like sales declines narrow to 0.5% in the five weeks to January 8 from a 7.6% drop in the previous 18 weeks.
The retailer, which has 641 UK and 677 overseas stores and concessions, weathered the high street snow impact and difficult trading conditions which hit rival HMV over Christmas.
It has been helped by record-breaking sales of new blockbuster games, as well as the launch of motion-sensing devices Kinect for the Xbox and PlayStation’s Move.
Shares in Game jumped 14% as the City cheered news of a further improvement in sales.
The UK and Ireland performance made up for tougher trading overseas, where like-for-like sales fell 4.5% against a 0.5% rise the previous 18 weeks.
The Christmas and New Year period is key for the group, typically accounting for around 25% of its sales.
Game said underlying pre-tax profits for the year to January 31 would be in line with market expectations at between £37 million to £39 million.
It had been struggling in the face of fierce competition from supermarkets, with UK and Ireland sales down as much as 16.2% in the first half.
The group has been increasingly moving into sales of secondhand games and consoles, which are expected to make up 25% of its turnover this year, and is also restructuring its UK and Ireland store base with plans to trim its portfolio to 550 by Christmas 2013.
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