DO YOU THINK HMV CAN CONTINUE TO STORM THE RETAIL CHARTS?
TONY SHIRET CREDIT SUISSE
HMV has delivered clean full year pre-tax profits of £63m, slightly ahead of consensus. However, we remain concerned about HMV’s increasing exposure to the highly cyclical video games market as well as the more price competitive technology product areas.
JOHN STEVENSON KBC PEEL HUNT
For the coming year, we believe the group can deliver material sales and profit benefits from the collapse of Woolworths and Zavvi. Woolworths and Zavvi generated around £800m of entertainment sales, therefore we believe HMV can enjoy an 11.5 per cent sales boost.
MATTHEW MCEACHRAN SINGER CAPITAL
HMV’s games technology division now represents 24 per cent of sales (up from 20 per cent), and pre-owned Games is thought to be performing well in its initial period, having been successfully rolled out in the second half of the year. This should help reinforce younger customer footfall. If there is any disappointment in HMV’s figures it relates to its book business.