19/11/2001

EMI report expected profit loss

EMI Group has seen its profits fall thanks to a worldwide fall in CD sales.

The music company – whose roster of artists includes Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams – revealed a loss of £2 million for the six months prior to 30 September, in comparison to a profit of over £59 million for the same period the year before.

EMI issued a profits warning in September, citing “uncertain market conditions” as obscuring predictions for the end-of-year figure. However, the group’s profit loss comes as no surprise, with all music companies currently experiencing decreased sales due to a variety of factors that include the availability of music on the internet and a slowdown in the rate at which customers are replacing vinyl records with their CD equivalent.

The past twelve months have seen EMI Group unsuccessfully attempt to merge with both BMG and Warner Music with each deal falling through thanks to EU competition concerns.

However, the company reaffirmed its intent to steer its music division back to profitability under the leadership of its newly-appointed head, Alain Levy, with forthcoming releases from Robbie Williams and Mick Jagger in the pre-Christmas period liable to go some way to restoring confidence in EMI’s ability to turn around its performance. (CL)

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