A STRONG performance has been delivered by GAME Digital plc.

The video games retailer, headquartered in Basingstoke, has announced its year end trading update for the 52 weeks to July 26, 2014.

The period includes six weeks during which GAME traded as a publicly listed company, following its admission to the Official List of the London Stock Exchange on June 11.

Based at Unity House, in Telford Road, on the Houndmills Estate, GAME provides new and pre-owned gaming and gaming-related products, at 321 stores in the UK, including one at Festival Place, and 239 stores in Spain, plus one on the Isle of Man.

Following a solid second-half performance, total sales increased by around 30 per cent year-on-year.

The group ended the year with a net cash position in excess of £80 million driven by improvements in working capital, credit insurance and one off capital structure benefits due to the IPO.

Chief executive officer Martyn Gibbs said: “Our consistent focus on improving the group’s specialist customer proposition has delivered a strong performance and positions the business well for the future.

“We have great new physical and digital games being launched in the coming months and are working closely with our supplier partners to provide early trials, exclusives, deals and new and exciting ways to pay for all our gaming communities around the UK and Spain.

“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank all of our teams for their continued hard work and dedication, and for the support of our customers and suppliers that make our community of gamers so valuable.”

GAME’s board will announce the company’s preliminary full year results on October 16.