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The main competitors for GAME are not industry specific. The most comparable rival is HMV, which deals exclusively in the entertainment sector, more so in the past few years as CD sales shrink. The increase in videogame popularity has benefited them though, as, along with other traditional 'high-street' stores, they are stealing back the entertainment sector from the supermarkets, such as Tesco (TSCO) and Asda. However, it is Argos, owned by Home Retail Group (HOME), which seems to be benefiting most from the increase in game popularity, with an increase in their entertainment market share of 42% to 2.6% across the whole sector. That's a remarkable increase, and they attribute a lot of their success to videogame sales. In their second-quarter results, for the 13 weeks leading up to 30 August, they noted that "growth was driven by increased sales of electrical products as a whole, principally as a result of strong sales performances in TVs, video gaming and white goods". If you look back to their third-quarter results from the last financial year, Argos credited videogames for its greater increase in sales. This all contributes to the theory that videogames are helping to drive the success of these companies. Unfortunately, this has not benefited the share price of Home Retail, largely because of the weak performance of Homebase. Think tank IDATE recently released a study forecasting that the videogame market will see steady growth until 2016 before levelling out in 2017. Looking back to the previous 'console cycle', it was in the fourth year that significant problems started to arise for videogame retailers. This time around, at least in IDATE's opinion, the future seems more secure.
sold out last week. thank feck
Home Retail Group PLC Monday said its Homebase unit has exchanged contracts to sell its freehold store in Battersea, South London, and expects to close about 25 stores in its current financial year, cutting its revenue but boosting profits and cash flow. The owner of the Homebase DIY chain and the Argos general retailer had said last month it wanted to shrink its Homebase estate by about a quarter by 2018 in an attempt to improve the profitability of the business. That means about 80 stores will be closed in total. On Monday, it said the sale of the Battersea store and the 25 other store closures it will complete in the current financial year will cut sales by about 2% in the current year and about 3% in its next financial year. It will book GBP10 million of closure costs in the current year, but has already booked this amount as a provision for property, meaning no overall impact on its results. It expects to book an exceptional gain of about GBP38 million - the profit on the Battersea site sale - in the following financial year. It also expects a GBP30 million boost to its cash flow statement this year and GBP27 million next year, while it will also book a GBP5 million improvement to its working capital this year, and a loss of GBP10 million for the closure costs. It said it will sell the Battersea site for GBP57 million to a residential property developer, getting GBP30 million in the current financial year that ends on February 28, 2015, and the remaining GBP27 million in the following fiscal year. It will book a gain on the sale of about GBP38 million in fiscal 2016. It expects the deal to complete in about a year. It said the closure of the other 25 Homebase stores won't have a material impact on its benchmark pretax profit this year or next, partly because they include two profitable stores that Homebase was unable to renew on lease expiry, which are not part of the previously announced store exit programme. Home Retail shares were down 0.2% at 192.50 pence early Monday.
indicating a downtrend
All RSI's indicated this is overbought. Expected downward movement soon
PL? are you joking?
out. This is only going one way
are we waiting for?
out here at 7p a while ago. Bought a small amount yesterday for a punt! wise move?
bought in again after a few months out. GL all