Business News HMV Timeline Retail

HMV Canada still doing alright

By | Published on Friday 7 June 2013

HMV

HMV Canada has announced that revenues in the first five months of 2013 have continued to grow, following a trend started last year. So far this year the company has seen 1% growth in sales, while its gross margin is up 2.1% year-on-year.

This, of course, is of particular interest to us here in the UK, because HMV Canada owner Hilco, which bought that business in 2011, also officially took control of the HMV UK company in April this year, and is now looking to spearhead a similar revitalisation.

Announcing the new figures, HMV Canada President and CEO Nick Williams told CMU: “Building on the momentum of 2012, we entered 2013 with a renewed strength and excitement for our business which is evident in our results. We are experiencing an even stronger demand for CDs and DVDs at the start of 2013 than we did during this time in 2012. This, combined with the continuing growth of our new product categories, means we are in great shape for the summer. Despite a softer new release schedule when compared to the same period in 2012, we find ourselves ahead of our forecast and on track to deliver another strong year and maintain our position as Canada’s top choice for music and entertainment”.

He continued: “In addition to strong sales, we improved our audio and visual market shares by 4.2% and 0.6%, respectively, over the same period in 2012. Regionally, we saw strong performances in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Ontario which significantly contributed to these increases. We realise, though, that there is still a lot of work to do. We must continue to broaden our in-store offer in a way that is relevant to Canadians, while expanding the penetration of our online offering, The Vault. We are in a terrific position to provide a combined in-store and online offering and, through this model, we expect to continue delivering strong results in the months ahead”.

It remains to be seen if Hilco can actually turn around HMV UK’s fortunes in the same way, its strategy in Canada having parallels with that already adopted by UK and Ireland stores a decade ago. Though some in the UK industry have expressed some confidence, so we shall see.



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