Like-for-like sales fall
HMV Group has warned that its profits will be at the lower end of market expectations, with sales of music, entertainment and books having deteriorated over the past three months.

The group's overall like-for-like sales fell 1.3 per cent for the 12 weeks to December 16 and like-for-likes at the eponymous UK HMV chain rose just 0.6 per cent for the same period.

Internationally, HMV's like-for like sales fell 3.8 per cent in Asia and 3.4 per cent in Canada.

The value of the UK music market, including digital downloading, decreased 14 per cent during October and November and the DVD market also contracted.

Waterstone's like-for-like sales slid 3.7 per cent for the same 12-week period. However, good progress has been made online by waterstones.com, following its launch on September28.

HMV Group chief executive Simon Fox said: 'We recognise that we face tough and rapidly changing markets and have to work hard to offset this. However, I am confident that the strength of our leading brands, the rapid growth of our multichannel offer, combined with our effective operating systems gives us real competitive advantage and a platform on which to build.

'We are seeing very positive and tangible results from the strategic actions implemented during the course of this year, including strong market share gains in entertainment, rapidly growing online businesses and the delivery of synergy benefits from the acquisition of Ottakar's.'