HMV posts 22% profit rise in Irish division

Music retailer HMV brushed aside the onslaught of online sales to deliver a 22 per cent rise in profits to €9.34 million in its Irish unit, new accounts reveal.

Strong sales of U2's latest offering, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, helped to lift HMV's turnover in Ireland by more than 13 per cent to €69.5 million in the 53 weeks to April last year. Other top sellers included the singer Keane and the Scissors Sisters pop act.

The figures, which show that the Irish unit had retained profits of €24.75 million at the end of the last financial year, do not reflect trading at HMV's book chain Waterstones which has a significant presence in the Irish market. HMV did not take a dividend in Ireland in the most recent year or in the previous period.

With nine HMV stores in Ireland, five of them in Dublin, the British chain's growth came as its Irish-owned rival Golden Discs struggled to maintain profitability in its 27 outlets. Golden Disc's pretax profits fell 17 per cent to €706,881 in the year to March last year, while turnover fell 3 per cent to €37.5 million.

HMV spokesman Paul Barker declined to comment on trading in the current period but said the performance in Ireland was in contrast to its difficulties in Britain.

HMV faces poor retail sales generally in that market and additional pressure from online sales, Internet downloads and the sale of CDs and DVDs in supermarkets.

Poor Christmas trading in Britain, a profit warning and the departure of chief executive Alan Giles prompted an unsolicited approach this month from private equity group Permira that valued HMV at £762 million. The approach was spurned within hours by HMV's board.

Mr Barker said the Irish unit's performance was in line with its its operations in Japan and Canada. While the chain was reviewing its policy on back-catalogue music and film, it also plans a new Internet offering for the online sale of CDs and DVDs.

The latest Irish figures for HMV were filed as new research suggested that supermarket trade accounts accounted for more than a quarter of all CDs and DVDs sold in Britain last year. This doubled the volume from five years ago.

Market research firm TNS WorldPanel said video-game sales in supermarkets more than doubled in the same period.