‘Call of Duty’ fails to stem loss at Gamestop Ltd

Sales of the bestselling Call of Duty, Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto, and Fifa 2015 games were not enough to prevent pre-tax losses increasing fourfold to €1.43m at the Irish arm of Gamestop last year.

Figures show Gamestop Ltd last year recorded the increased pre-tax losses after revenues fell 10% from €55m to €49.6m in the 12 months to the end of January 31.

According to the directors’ report for Gamestop Ireland “both the level of business and the end-year financial position were considered satisfactory in light of the current global economic downturn and the lifecycle stage of the current generation of computer consoles.

Gamestop Ireland has close to 50 outlets in Ireland and has also established an online presence.

On the group’s developments, the directors said “in 2015/2016, the company will continue to review the performance of its stores.

We will open new stores where we can identify a profitable opportunity and we will consider closing any stores that are not performing to expectations or where the cost base, particularly occupancy costs, are out of line with the business levels in the location”.

The firm last year recorded an operating loss of €690,627 following an operating profit of €527,502 in the prior year.

The loss last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €741,535.

The amount spent on operating lease rentals fell from €4.09m to €3.9m. Numbers employed by the group rose from 275 to 281 with employment costs rising from €4.5m to €4.6m.