GameStop enjoys second biggest summer ever

GameStop has reported the second highest summer quarter in the company’s history.

For the three months ending August 1, 2009, GameStop achieved net earnings of $38.7 million, second only to $57.2 million for the same quarter last year. However, sales took a 3.7 per cent decrease from $1.80 billion last year to $1.74 billion.

The company’s top five selling games for the period were UFC 2009: Undisputed, Prototype, Fight Night Round 4, NCAA Football 2010 and Ghostbusters.

Due to the effects of the recession and strong prior year comparisons, the video game industry experience a sharp decline in consumer spending during the quarter,” said GameStop CEO Daniel DeMatteo.

Looking ahead, as the new title release schedule improves, we expect positive earnings growth in the back half of the year.”

The delay of key titles such as BioShock 2, StarCraft II and Splinter Cell: Conviction to 2010 has prompted the retail giant to lower its forecasts for the remainder of 2009. However, GameStop is confident the likes of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2 and Halo 3: ODST will still result in strong sales.

Earnings per share for the third fiscal quarter are now expect to range from $0.27 to $0.33. This is predicted to rise to between $1.47 to $1.65 in the fourth quarter of the financial year.