Directors praise Morgan for establishing them with a ”strong market” lead in Europe. Profits were GBP 84.2m as of March 2010, down from 117.4m.
”On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Lisa for her exceptional contribution over the last 14 years,” said chairman Peter Lewis, reports GamesIndustry.biz. ”She joined GAME when we had less than 200 stores, was appointed to the Board in January 2000, and became CEO in 2006.”
”Her focus on, and knowledge of, our customers and industry has helped to establish our strong market leading position in Europe.” Former Ladbrokes CEO Chris Bell, a GAME non-executive director, is her interim replacement until something more permanent.
”We have commenced the search for a new CEO. In the meantime I am delighted that Chris has agreed to take on this role on an interim basis as the company moves into the next phase of its development,” continued Lewis.
Profits for GAME at the end of their fiscal year in March, 2010 were £84.2m, down from the previous year’s £117.4m, of which they attribute to a global slowdown.
Despite this they note this is the ”second best trading performance in its history”, as the industry shrinks 20 percent. ”We outperformed the market and our performance can be attributed to our position as the market leading specialist, our strength in pre-owned, our multi-channel customer offer and disciplined operational management,” they said.
”Complementing our traditional store offer, we are today announcing the launch of a number of initiatives to strengthen our position in the growing e-commerce and digital markets.”
”Whilst we remain mindful of the challenging market in which we operate, the forthcoming new technology further enhances the profile of the specialist retailer.”
”This, together with our value driven offer to maintain a market leading position, investment in new channels to market, and our focus on cost reductions leads the Board to be confident in the Group’s future prospects.” They remain chipper despite the loss.
Retailer GAME has already downsized some of their operation by closing stores that are too close to one another and by altering employee working hours. GAME is the leading videogames retailer in the UK, who also own former rival GameStation.
