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Technology Stocks : Electronics Boutique (ELBO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Top Jim who wrote (367)	6/25/1999 10:49:00 AM
From: Night Writer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 779

Joel, I'm posting this just so you guys know I'm still long on this company. I think CompUSA entering the business is interesting. ELBO is an international company vs CompUSA being a USA only company. ELBO and CompUSA already have an over lapping segment of the market in computer games. This hasn't hurt ELBO a great deal. The sales staff is helpful at ELBO and answers questions about a game or gets answers. At CompUSA, they can tell you if the game is in stock. Don't get me wrong on CompUSA. It is my computer store. Their staff in the parts department is very helpful when it comes to computer hardware questions for my specific computers. Software is not their strong point. NW Electronics Boutique Discusses Record Year and Strong Start to Fiscal 2000 At First Annual Meeting of Shareholders -- First EBKIDS Store Slated to Open September '99 -- Sega Dreamcast Presales Exceeding Expectations WEST CHESTER, Pa., June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: ELBO), the world's largest specialty retailer of electronic games, today held its first annual meeting of shareholders. Following a record year for fiscal 1999 in which pro forma net income increased 72% to $20.1 million, the Company posted a strong start to fiscal 2000. Financial results for the previously announced first quarter, which ended on May 1, 1999, included a 60% increase in pro forma net income, as well as an 80 basis point improvement in gross margin. The gross margin improvement was driven by triple digit growth in Game Boy sales and sales of the hugely successful Pokemon line of cards and toys. Joseph J. Firestone, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are extremely proud of the success we have achieved to date and equally excited about our future. There is a very strong line up of Sony PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy and PC games scheduled for release between September and December, which we expect to positively benefit fiscal 2000 third and fourth quarter sales. Additionally, presales for the Sega Dreamcast system have at this point surpassed the pace of any previous hardware launch. The Dreamcast launch is scheduled for September 9, 1999, and we are anticipating record sales for that week and month in conjunction with the release." Mr. Firestone continued, "We are also very encouraged about the prospects for our EB KIDS stores. Many real estate developers have shown enormous interest in the educational and violence free platforms this concept will foster." Seth Levy, President of EBWorld.com and Senior Vice President for EB said, "We are very pleased with the steady gain in sales and traffic to the site, and our repeat customer percentage exceeded our expectations in the month of May. These indicators confirm that EBWorld.com not only competes, but can dominate as an e-retailer of entertainment software and related products. Sales generated from EBWorld.com quadrupled to $1.5 million in the first quarter compared with the prior year period, keeping us on track to reach our goal of $16.0 million for fiscal 2000." The Company announced today that its Electronics Boutique store-opening plan is on schedule and it anticipates adding up to 100 net new stores worldwide for fiscal 2000. The first EB KIDS prototype store is slated to open in the Garden State Plaza Mall, located in Paramus, N.J., this coming September. Also at today's meeting, shareholders reelected Susan Y. Kim and Stanley Steinberg to serve as Directors until the 2002 annual meeting. Electronics Boutique is the leading specialty retailer of video and computer games and also sells video game hardware, PC productivity software and accessories. The company currently operates 554 stores in 45 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia and South Korea, primarily under the names Electronics Boutique and Stop 'N Save Software. The company has also established a separate e-commerce division, EBWorld.com, Inc., to accelerate the growth of its Internet business. During fiscal 1999, there were more than 10 million visits to the company's website at ebworld.com . This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Electronics Boutique ("EB") is including this statement for the express purpose of availing itself of the protections of the safe harbor provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to all such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks include, but are not limited to, EB's dependence on the continued introduction of new and enhanced video games and PC hardware and software; the cyclical nature of the video game market; the rapid technological changes which occur in the video game and PC industry; EB's ability to open and operate new stores on a profitable basis; the intensely competitive nature of the electronic game industry and its rapid changes in consumer preferences and frequent new product introductions; the seasonal nature of the retail industry; EB's dependence on its suppliers for products; risks inherent to conducting international operations; and consumer spending patterns and prevailing economic conditions. Please refer to Electronics Boutique's Annual Report on Form 10-K on file with the SEC for a more detailed discussion of these and other risks that could cause results to differ materially. SOURCE Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. CO: Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp.; EBWorld.com; Stop 'N Save Software ST: Pennsylvania, New Jersey IN: CPR REA SU: 06/22/99 13:53 EDT prnewswire.com