GameStop Reports Healthy Holiday Sales

Representatives of US video game retailer GameStop have announced that the company has achieved a 4.9% gain in holiday sales from stores open at least a year and have forecast that fourth-quarter and 2003 profits will edge toward the top end of initial estimates. The company reports that strong demand for gaming software and consoles pushed total sales up by 21%, from a year ago, to $508.6 million in the nine-week holiday selling ended January 3rd. The retailer said quarterly profit would likely be between 65 cents and 66 cents a share, adjusting its November estimate of a 62 cents to 66 cents a share profit. For the full-year, the company raised its forecast to a range of $1.04 and $1.05 a share, compared to a November estimate of a 2003 profit between $1.02 and $1.06 a share.