Shares in HMV lost 5% yesterday despite beating analyst expectations with a £63m profit for the year and an anticipated boost from surging demand for Michael Jackson's music following the singer's death last week.
Profit at the company, which runs music stores and the Waterstones book chain, soared 12% in the year to April 25 compared to 2008 as it benefited from the demise of rivals such as Zavvi and Woolworths.
Sales were up 4.4% to £1.96bn.
Analysts are tipping the company to get as much as a double-digit boost from the death of Jackson this year after chief executive Simon Fox said the group saw an 80-fold jump in sales of Jackson's material on Friday from the day before.
The week-on-week increase had been larger than those following the deaths of Elvis Presley in 1977 and John Lennon in 1980, Fox added..
Fox, however, cautioned that the surge in demand, which has seen Jackson's Number Ones album rocket to the top of the charts, is unlikely to affect HMV's full-year performance.
"Whether it's just a short burst, or how sustained it will be, we just don't know at this stage. I don't think it will have a material affect on the business." Some investors are still worried about the strength of consumer spending and think that sales growth at the group could start to look lacklustre compared to last year. The full-year dividend was kept at 7.4p a share.
HMV shares closed down 6p at 112.75p.
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