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Game Group sees year profit ahead of forecast

Mon Dec 31, 3:16 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - British computer and video games retailer Game Group Plc (GMG.L) said it expected its full-year profit to be ahead of an average market forecast after continued strong sales in the run-up to Christmas, boosting its shares. ADVERTISEMENT

Shares in Game Group, which have outperformed the UK general retailers' index by around 184 percent this year, were 9.5 percent higher at 254 pence at 3:08 a.m. EST, valuing the company at around 870 million pounds ($1.74 billion).

The company, which earlier this month said it was performing slightly ahead of expectations in the run-up to the key Christmas trading period, said profit before non-recurring costs and tax for the year to January 31 would be no less than 70 million pounds, up from 29.5 million the year before.

Game Group had been expected to report an underlying pretax profit of about 58.9 million pounds this year, according to the average forecast of 12 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.

On December 11, Game -- which sells computer and video games, consoles and accessories to more than 800 shops in Britain and abroad -- said like-for-like sales rose by 44.1 percent in the 45 weeks to December 8.

The company said it would report fully on Christmas trading for the six weeks to January 12 on January 15.

(Reporting by Mike Elliott, Editing by Erica Billingham)