HMV reports Christmas sales slump

Troubled retailer HMV has reported a sharp fall in sales for the Christmas period but noted a slowing in the decline of its music and film business. Like-for-like sales, which strip out the effect of shop closures, fell 8.1% in the five weeks to the end of the December. Total sales were down 16.6%. The group also reiterated concerns about its ability to continue trading in its current form. Last month, it warned it may be forced to sell its live music business. Like-for-like sales for the period at this part of the business were down by 1% against a year earlier, compared with a fall of 8.2% at HMV's retail business. Technology However, HMV said that there were signs that its attempts to refocus on technology products were starting to pay off. Like-for-like sales in technology products at the 144 stores that have been refitted with a range of portable digital products were up 51%. "The continuing actions to focus the business and to expand our technology offering are beginning to show through," said chief executive Simon Fox. "We are seeing a combination of a slowing of the decline in music and film, and acceleration in the growth of technology. "Undoubtedly trading conditions and the consumer environment remain challenging, but we remain confident in HMV's future prospects." HMV is attempting to refocus its business by offering more technology products, such as MP3 players, headphones and tablet computers, as well as live music and event ticketing. The company has said it expects the impact of the store refits to be shown in its next set of results, as the work to convert stores took place towards the end of 2011.