Music, DVD and books retailer HMV has reported narrowing losses driven by strong demand for computer games.

For the 26 weeks to Oct 27 the group made an operating loss before one-off items of £21.5 million versus a loss of £24.8 million in the same period last year.

The retailer said it makes all its annual trading profit in the second half, the majority in the run-up to Christmas.

Shares put on 1.8p, or 1.5%, to 118.8 pence.

Total sales were £790.2 million, up from £767.2 million last time. Total sales from continuing operations were up 9.5%, while like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of new and closed space, were up 5.0%.

Within this, like-for-like sales were up 9.2% at HMV UK & Ireland and up 1.4% at Waterstone's. Chief executive Simon Fox said: 'We're exactly where we expected to be at this time.'