GameStop to open 600 new stores

US specialist retail giant GameStop has reported sales and net earnings rises of 33 per cent and 82 per cent respectively, spurring on an ambitious target to open up to 600 new stores by the end of the year.

The world’s largest games retailer reported reported sales and earnings for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year ended February 2, 2008 today, and the company also issued guidance for fiscal 2008 and an outlook for the year to follow.

It noted that GameStop has become the world’s fastest growing retailer in the Fortune 500 with sales of $7.1 billion for fiscal 2007, an increase of 33 per cent over fiscal 2006. It also boasts a 24.7 per cent increase in comparable store sales, the opening of 586 new stores and a 50 per cent increase in operating earnings.

GameStop now plans continued growth in the more developed video game markets of the US, Canada and Australia, as well as building new stores in virtually all of the more immature markets across Europe.”

In 2007, GameStop opened 586 new stores worldwide. Operating cash flow funded all of the new openings and also provided a year end cash balance of $857 million.

Its full-year financials for the fiscal year 2007 include net earnings of $288.3 million – an increase of 82.1 per cent compared to 2006.

Take a look at what GameStop chairman and chief executive officer R. Richard Fontaine thought of it all here.