HMV Sees Video Game Sales Slump As Retailer Reports £16m Loss

Video Game Sales Slump At HMV As Retailer Makes Big Loss

Troubled retailer HMV slumped to a loss of £16.2 million for the year - and said it saw video game sales slump by almost a fifth

The group, which operates 252 stores, said it expected to make a profit of at least £10 million this year but saw sales slide 12% in the last 12 months amid fierce online competition.

It said it is now relying on sales of technology, gadgets and games to boost its fortunes.

Electronic devices now represent 11% of its business, it said.

Sales fell 12.1% overall, while retail sales of games fell by 17%.

But the company remained bullish on the games market, saying that the closures of many Game and GameStation stores gave HMV "a new market opportunity". It added the sale of pre-owned games would be another area of growth.

But some analysts have doubted this, pointing out that HMV failed to gain a noticeable uplift from the collapse of Zavvi in 2008.

Chief executive Simon Fox, who will be replaced next month by former boss of camera retailer Jessops Trevor Moore, said: "the last year has been a difficult and challenging one for HMV and, as expected, this is reflected in our annual results.

HMV recently hired former Game senior manager Andy Pinder to run its video game sales business.

Pinder said when his appointment was announced: "I am delighted to have joined HMV and am excited about meeting the team and sharing my passion to help drive the games category within HMV.

"We have another fantastic Q4 product line up and I look forward to working with all our supplier partners as we enter our peak trading period."

Video games recently suffered their "worst retail week ever" after just £8.4m of boxed software was shifted in stores.

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