HMV beats profit forecasts and sees new sales spike as Michael Jackson fans snap up back catalogue

Jul 1 2009 by Neil Hodgson, Liverpool Daily Post

DEMAND for the late Michael Jackson’s back catalogue soared 100-fold at HMV’s flagship Liverpool One store, hours after the star’s shock death last Friday.

Barbara Burns, manager at the store, which opened last summer, said: “We’ve seen the most amazing response from people of all ages. We estimate demand increased nearly 100-fold in the space of just 24 hours.

“Initially we had plenty of stock as we had been gearing up for the O2 concerts this summer, but by Saturday evening it was mostly sold out.”

Meanwhile, the music and games group said the demise of rivals such as Woolworths and Zavvi and its turnaround plan had boosted profits in a “difficult” retail climate.

Pre-tax profits for the year to April 25 were 11.5% up at £63m, slightly ahead of consensus forecasts. Like-for-like sales rose 1.9%.

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