Revamp helps HMV stay ahead of high street rivals

May 10 2008 by Iain Laing, The Journal

BLOCKBUSTERS like Simpsons the Movie have helped entertainment retailer HMV become one of the few high street winners over the past year.

The group, which runs bookseller Waterstone’s as well as its music and game stores, has benefited from a group-wide overhaul and saw like-for-like sales lift 7.3%.

HMV said its turnaround plan was ahead of schedule as same-store sales growth at its UK and Ireland HMV stores was even further ahead at 11.4%.

Total group sales in the 12 months to April 28 were up 10.3% on the year before, with a 4.7% improvement for Waterstone’s. HMV’s underlying pre-tax profits came in at £48.1m for the year to April 2007. The group said they were likely to come in towards the £58m mark for the current financial year.

In the previous year, the group – which operates around 700 stores in the UK and Ireland – saw like-for-like sales dip 3.5% as sales struggled amid tough high street and digital competition.

Chief executive Simon Fox launched a revival plan at the beginning of 2007, which included store revamps, a focus on big-selling games and consoles and a digital music and online push.