GameStop expects lower quarterly sales on store closures, France exit

GameStop said on Monday it expects second-quarter net sales to decline due to planned store closures and the sale of its France operations.

The ​videogame retailer expects quarterly net sales in the range of $780 million to $800 million on a preliminary basis, compared with $972.2 million reported a year ago.

Still, GameStop’s shares ‌rallied 5% ⁠in premarket ⁠trading after the company said it would pay about 27% of a previously announced $1.4 billion debt exchange through cash on hand instead of issuing new stock. That would prevent shareholders from suffering more dilution.