West Chester, Penn. — Electronics Boutique enjoyed a 23.9 percent increase in fiscal second-quarter revenue, hitting $448.3 million, up from a year-ago $361.9 million.
Comp-store sales edged upward 2.6 percent, due mainly to continued demand for Sony’s PlayStationP and 17.8 percent growth in video game software sales.
Net income for the second quarter, ended July 30, including a net loss of $1 million related to acquisition of a 138-store Spanish retail chain, reached $1.6 million, down from $3.9 million in the same period last year. The European chain, called Jump, primarily sells PCs, software, digital cameras and related CE products.
Excluding cost related to Electronics Boutique’s pending merger with GameStop and the Jump loss, net income for the second quarter was $3.5 million.
Second quarter gross margin on sales was 30.3 percent vs. 29.5 percent last year, primarily due to strong sales of higher margin preplayed hardware and software and accessories.
During the second quarter, Electronics Boutique added 227 new stores, including the 138 Jump locations in Spain. The retailer ended its second three months with 2,280 locations, compared with 1,733 at the end of the second quarter a year earlier.
As reported in April, Electronics Boutique and GameStop entered a definitive agreement and plan of merger that will create a video game retailer with over 4,000 stores worldwide. The merger is expected to close in early October.
For the six months, total Electronics Boutique revenue climbed 30.1 percent to $955.4 million, up from a year-ago $734.4 million.
Excluding costs related to the pending merger and net loss associated with the Jump acquisition, net income was $7.2 million. Including $2.9 million of pretax merger-related costs and a $1 million net loss, net income for the first half was $4.4 million, down from $6.9 million year-on-year.
