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EnergyGame up for Game Group?
Filed under: Investing
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Competition from online players like Amazon and Steam not to mention supermarkets has badly damaged retailer Game Group - the retailer has seen shares in its business suspended.Some distance from 2009/10 when Game saw profits of £90m. But rent cash-flow problems is now likely to see many of its 600 UK stores - employing 6.000 or so staff - close.
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On the brink
"The Board," an London Stock Exchange announcement stated, "now considers itself to be unable to assess the business's financial position, and is of the opinion that there is no equity value left in the Group. Therefore the Company has requested that the listing of its securities on the Main Market of London Stock Exchange plc be suspended from trading with effect from 7:30am today."Game Group is big company. It has 1,300 stores right across Europe employing a total of 10,000 people. But its £180m debt mountain is self-evidently huge, plus a sizeable VAT bill. Many of Game's stores in the meantime will continue to trade while a buyer is sought.
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Buyer beware
US rival GameStop and private equity operator OpCapita are both seen as likely purchasers according to the FT, though the banks are not thought to be in any hurry says the paper. The company has attempted to get behind its troubles with fresh lending agreements and more congenial trading terms, plus alternative funding sources.But a tsunami of bills, including a £12m wage bill due the end of this month, has simply overwhelmed the company. However, Game has not gone into administration. It has a 10-day moratorium, which may give it time to find a buyer.
Yet with the continued dominance of Amazon and other online retailers delivering computer games to your door, often at a discount, Game is vulnerable. On the other hand, a slimmed-down Game with fewer stores - carefully avoiding duplication and twinned to a more focused management team - still has a chance. The games industry, remember, is still growing.
10 biggest companies in the world
- 1. Walmart<p> Wal-Mart Stores, or Walmart, is an American retailer that runs chains of discount department and warehouse stores around the world.</p> <p> The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and first traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas and has around 8,500 stores in 15 countries, under 55 different names.</p>
- 2. Royal Dutch Shell<p> Royal Dutch Shell, more commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in Holland, but with its registered office in London.</p> <p> With operations in more than 90 countries, it is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.</p>
- 3. ExxonMobil<p> Exxon Mobil Corporation, or ExxonMobil, is an American oil and gas corporation formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas.</p> <p> With 37 oil refineries in 21 countries, Exxon Mobil Corporation is the largest refiner in the world.</p>
- 4. BP<p> BP is yet another global oil and gas company, this time headquartered in London. It has operations in more than 80 countries, produces about 3.8 million barrels of oil per day and has 22,400 service stations worldwide.</p> <p> The name BP is derived from the initials of one of the company's former legal names, British Petroleum.</p>
- 5. Sinopec Group<p> Sinopec Group is one of the major petroleum companies in China, headquartered in Beijing.</p> <p> Its business includes oil and gas exploration as well as the production and sales of petrochemicals and chemical fibres.</p>
- 6. China National Petroleum<p> China National Petroleum Corporation is a state-owned fuel-producing corporation and the largest integrated oil and gas company in China. It has its headquarters in Beijing.</p> <p> CNPC - the parent company of PetroChina - was created in 17 September 1988 when the government decided to disband the Ministry of Petroleum and create a state owned company to handle all Petroleum activities in China.</p>
- 7. State Grid<p> State Grid Corporation of China is the largest electric power transmission and distribution company in China, once again headquartered in Beijing.</p> <p> It has subsidiaries in Northern China, Northeastern China, Eastern China, Middle China and Northwestern China.</p>
- 8. Toyota Motor<p> Toyota Motor Corporation, more commonly known simply as Toyota, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Japan.</p> <p> The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries. Its brands include Toyota, Lexus and Daihatsu.</p>
- 9. Japan Post Holdings<p> Japan Post Holdings is a state-owned Japanese company that deals with mail delivery and financial services.</p> <p> It is headquartered in Tokyo and was founded on January 23, 2006.</p>
- 10. Chevron<p> Chevron Corporation is an American energy company headquartered in San Ramon, California.</p> <p> It is active in more than 180 countries and is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production, and power generation.</p>
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