EMI were yesterday upbeat about their financial performance, despite a fall in overall profits of nearly 9% to £163.3m (down from £178.8m in the previous year).
The major label were keen to point out that their turnover was only down 1.4%, which is quite an achievement when put against the 5.6% drop suffered across the global music market (7.8% if music DVD/video sales are not included). And despite a fall in overall turnover and profit, EMI's recorded music division saw its global market share rise from 12.7% to 13.2% (thanks to successful albums from the likes of Coldplay, Chingy, Robbie Williams and Norah Jones), while EMI's publishing business actually increased turnover by 1.1% (thanks to the successes of the likes of Cathy Dennis, Jay-Z and Pink).
Commenting on the latest financial results EMI Chairman Eric Nicoli said: "We delivered full-year sales and operating profit close to last year's level while the global market declined by almost 6% in the same period. This achievement demonstrates the strength of both our recorded music and music publishing businesses". Seemingly optimistic about the short term future he added: "For the first time in several years, there are encouraging signs of market improvement, particularly in the US, the world's largest music market."