ANALYST VIEWS: CAN HMV TURN ITSELF AROUND AND STAY AFLOAT?
Manoj Ladwa | ETX Capital
After 90 years in business, HMV looks set to go down the road of many other companies that failed to change with the times…Unfortunately, like a bad stock market trader, HMV’s survival strategy is to sell money makers such as HMV Live to prop up its loss making retail business, a strategy ultimately doomed to fail.
John Stevenson | Peel Hunt
Interim losses have expanded to £36.4m, but more critically peak trading remain under pressure, with like-for-like sales down 13.2 per cent over the half year to date. Without a material pick-up, expectations of break-even for the year look overly optimistic.
Philip Dorgan | Panmure Gordon
HMV is in a very difficult position, with the next few days crucial if it is to prevent its financial situation deteriorating further. We think that it needs to sell off both Live and 7digital… It is difficult to see equity value being created for the shares. The enterprise value is £179m, of which the equity counts for just £16m.