Poor release schedule hits HMV’s sales

HMV’s sales have declined 11.6 per cent for the 20 weeks ending September 15th, 2012.

It’s disappointing and is in line with how the retailer has been performing all year.

HMV says a quiet summer of releases, plus a combination of The Olympics, The Queen’s Jubilee and the Euros, has impacted the firm’s performance. And the statistics from The Official Charts Company and Chart-Track backs up that claim, with retail sales significantly down over the summer across all entertainment sectors. Despite the declines, HMV did increase its market share in music, DVD and games, the firm says.

Whereas games, music and DVD struggled during the period, the firm’s technology products continued to grow. But it couldn’t hide an entire Group sales decline of 14.8 per cent.

The firm’s new chief executive Trevor Moore said: These numbers reflect the challenging markets in which we operate. However, the like for like decline was less marked towards the end of the period and we should be helped in the remainder of the year by a strong pipeline of new releases in the music, DVD and games markets ahead of Christmas.”