A drive to slash jobs and dump B-list acts helped push ailing music giant EMI Group back into profit in the first half, but sales tumbled as piracy and slumping economies mauled the music industry.
EMI, the world's third-biggest music company, saw itsbattered shares slide more than 10 per cent after sayingit would miss its target of flat sales for the year, with its core recorded music sales seen falling up to 6 per cent.
Home to rockers the Rolling Stones, country singer GarthBrooks and pop star Robbie Williams, EMI had a radicalmakeover this year, cutting 1,800 jobs and dumping 400 acts to cut costs and revive its fortunes in a declining industry.
Unveiling the first results of that cost-cutting, EMI saidit swung to an adjusted pre-tax profit of £42.2 million sterling in the six months to end-September, compared with a £2 million loss in the same period last year.Analyst forecasts had ranged between £45.8 million and £50 million.
However, the industry shrank more rapidly than expected, and EMI said its sales slid 10 per cent to £961.5 million pounds, with core recorded music turnover tumbling just over 12 per cent.
EMI also made the final step in an exit from music storesHMV, selling its remaining 14.5 per cent stake to institutional investors for around £70 million.