Going solo

20 May 2003

The only quoted music major has upgraded its performance and its balance sheet even as the market for records shrinks. With little sign of industry consolidation, the question remains whether it has done enough to get by on its own. It probably has.

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EMI cut debt and dramatically increased profit margins at the cost of lost market share in a shrinking music industry in 2002. The world's only music major with a publicly traded share has announced that its pretax profit rose 38% on turnover down 11% during the last year. The recorded music business, which faced the worst market conditions, saw sales fall 13% but operating profit rise 81%. But EMI's costcutting drive limited its ability to compete: the global recorded music market fell 9% during the year.

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