Electronics Boutique Q4 Sales Rise By 6%

West Chester, Pa.— Bolstered by a 33 percent increase in its domestic video game software sales, fiscal fourth quarter revenue at specialty retailer Electronics Boutique climbed 6 percent, hitting $533.5 million, up from $503.5 million in the year-ago period.

Net income for the three months reached $30.4 million, compared with $17.7 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

Even with revenue and profit gains in the fourth quarter, ended Feb. 1, Electronics Boutique posted a 6.5 percent decline in comp-store sales. The retailer attributed this to the comparison of the previous year's successful hardware launches to the fiscal-year-just-finished soft and shorter holiday selling season.

Pro forma, revenue for the previous fiscal fourth quarter hit $489.1 million, where results exclude related expenses associated with the chain's BB Kids and BC Sports Collectibles businesses, pre-tax charges of $2.3 million for an inventory write-down, $12.6 million in restructuring charges and $70 million of goodwill amortization. Pro forma net income for the previous fiscal fourth quarter was $26.9 million.

For the 12 months, revenue climbed 23.6 percent, hitting $1.3 billion, up from $1.1 billion in the previous year. Comp-store sales increased 8.3 percent. Net income for the 12 months reached $38.9 million, up from $17.7 million.

Pro forma revenue for the year-earlier 12-month period was $1 billion, while pro forma net income for the year just ended was $39.2 million, compared with a pro forma net of $29.6 million year over year.