Oh dear, it really is too hot here at CMU HQ to be processing financial news. But it doesn't take too much processing on our part to report that investment types will be waiting to see how RealNetworks are doing when it releases its second quarter earnings tomorrow. The digital content firm have been faring better on Wall Street over the past year, but some remain unsure about the company's long term prospects - especially in the music space where Apple dominate and where Microsoft, despite now being friends of Real (after years of litigation), could become a strong competitor should their recently announced Zune platform take off. Still, Real have some interesting future plans of their own - whether anything will be revealed about those when they release their latest figures tomorrow, remains to be seen.
The Warner Music Group will post the financials for its third quarter on 3 Aug. Lots of people will be awaiting those - but presumably bosses at EMI in particular. Everything's gone a bit quiet on the whole EMI Warner thing - especially since the EU courts undid the EC decision on the Sony BMG merger - but some say we can expect more movements on that front sometime soon.
Finally in city news, Sanctuary have released their latest figures which, presumably, show that the cross-sector music company continues to struggle. As I say, it's far too hot for me to be looking at the figures for myself, but the statement from Sanctuary CEO Frank Presland that accompanies them probably tells you all you need to know: "These results highlight, the difficult position that the Group was in. I have now been Chief Executive for two months, and management is working hard to establish the appropriate controls and systems to put the business on a proper footing. We have a new business strategy, with the Group divided into three autonomous divisions, each focused on its own profit and cash generation. These will be supported by a more cost efficient Group centre. Trading in the second half of the year is in line with management expectations. We are currently finalising budgets for fiscal 2007 on the basis of the new structure that we have put in place."