EMI profits down 40% despite good UK news. (News).

EMI's strongest year to date in the UK in 2001 failed to save it from a bleak set of global results.

Huge sales in its principal market of the UK from the likes of Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams were overshadowed by disappointing sales in other territories, as pre-tax profits across the entire group dropped by 40.9% to 153.3m [pounds sterling] in the year to March 31 2002.

The picture was particularly depressing in North America, where market share shrunk from 10.8% to 10.4%. But, with the new North American team headed by David Munns now in place and its forthcoming release schedule, EMI Recorded Music chief executive Alain Levy stressed last week that he is confident of better times ahead.

His optimism reflects that of the group as a whole, which is promising shareholders "a substantial improvement in operating performance" in the year ahead, despite a "challenging" 12 months in which internal problems and general global trends battered the financial results which were announced last Tuesday.

EMI chairman Eric Nicoli acknowledges that his group always faced a difficult time trying to compete with previous figures which were inflated by the runaway success of The Beatles' 1 album. But he says, "That was the least of the challenges." He says, "We were faced with some very serious weak markets and self-inflicted problems, particularly in North America, and these problems obliterated the excellent performance of EMI UK, for example, and EMI Publishing worldwide and in France and the Christian music group. We had pockets of excellence, but the operating ...