Does anyone still shop at HMV?

Still on for that massive closing down sale:

HMV will this week outline to its banks a rescue plan that will include the possible sale of Waterstone's, its nationwide book chain, write Ben Marlow and Kate Walsh.

The struggling retailer's lenders have told Simon Fox, its chief executive, that the company needs to raise up to £75m in new funds in return for a relaxation of its lending covenants, which it is set to breach in the coming months.

Fox's other cash-raising plans include a possible share issue and further store closures. The chain has already committed itself to closing 60 across the HMV and Waterstone's portfolio - about 10% of its chain in the UK and Ireland. Analysts argued that this did not go far enough.

Potential buyers for Waterstone's include its founder Tim Waterstone, who may team up with Alexander Mamut, the Russian investor who owns a 6% stake in HMV.

HMV will be expected to use the money to repay part of its debts, which have piled up after poor sales triggered its fourth profit warning in six months. The company recently revealed that its debts had soared to £130m - double City expectations of £66m.

The company's banks have demanded that the costs of its recovery plan are shared among all its stakeholders, including shareholders.

HMV, the troubled entertainment retailer, issued its fifth profit alert since last September, warning that ongoing trading difficulties would see profits drop to about £30m for the year.

The group had earlier guided towards a pre-tax performance “moderately below” the £45m analysts had expected, and Tuesday’s news sent the group’s shares down a further 5 per cent to 14½p.

HMV, which has been struggling to reduce its £130m debt burden, also confirmed that it had struck an agreement with lenders to push back tests over its banking covenants.

“While negotiations regarding amended facilities continue, the group is pleased to report that its lenders have agreed to move the measurement period for all relevant financial covenant tests from the 12 months ending April 30 2011 to the 12 months ending July 2 2011,” HMV said.

The company added on Tuesday that its banking facilities remained fully available to it and that discussions with lenders were “constructive”.

Alexander Mamut, the Russian oligarch, has been given just over a fortnight to agree a deal to buy the Waterstone's books chain, I have learned.

Nomura, which is advising Waterstone's troubled owner, HMV Group, has offered Mamut and the chain's founder, Tim Waterstone, about 15 more days to come up with an offer to buy it.

The cynic in me wonders whether the banks have just bought themselves more time to continue preparations for HMV's post-mortem and subsequent dismemberment.

The troubled owner of HMV has admitted for the first time that it is considering a controversial move that would involve freeing itself from millions of pounds in rent obligations.

I can exclusively reveal that HMV Group, which also owns Waterstone's, this week asked advisers to assess the feasibility of a company voluntary arrangement, which would involve handing back the keys to some of its shops.

It is the clearest sign to date that HMV, one of Britain’s best-known high street names, is contemplating more drastic options than closing 60 shops and selling parts of its business. A CVA would need the approval of HMV's landlords and I should stress that people close to the company say such a move is not its preferred option.

In a statement issued to me today, HMV said:

“HMV Group has not initiated a CVA. The company remains in constructive discussions with its banks who continue to be supportive, and current facilities remain fully available. The Group is also continuing to explore strategic options for Waterstone's and HMV Canada.

As is entirely usual and appropriate in current circumstances, the Group continues to keep itself fully informed on all of its available options and keeps its contingency plans up to date, among which a CVA may or may not be considered.”

In yesterday's Sunday Times:

The 128-store Canadian HMV business is expected to be sold for less than £5m.

Fopp are selling it, clearly.

Dominic O'Connell of the Sunday Times writes today that bankers involved in the Waterstone's deal expect HMV to have to close 500 of its 600 music stores if the books chain is sold.

Good.

I'd rather have 100 awesome shops that I only get to once or twice a year, than 600 mediocre shops I never bother with...

HMV Group has sounded a private warning that it could see its annual profits slump to just £3m within two years under a management plan to salvage its future.

I have learned that a report prepared last month by HMV’s lending syndicate following a management presentation painted a bleak picture of the company’s future on the high street.

The bank report said that if Waterstone’s and HMV’s Canadian operations are sold as planned, that under one scenario, the profitability of the core HMV chain is likely to slip as low as £3m by 2013.

That’s a far cry from the group’s current annual earnings, projected to be £30m this year following a string of profit warnings, and reinforces the struggle that HMV faces if it is to secure a long-term future on the British high street.

HMV’s banks are led by the taxpayer-backed Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, and are understood to be supportive of its efforts to restructure itself.

On Friday, HMV issues a statement confirming that it was in “advanced talks” to sell Waterstone’s, with Alexander Mamut, the Russian tycoon, among the contenders to buy it. I understand that HMV is keen to progress talks with Mamut and other bidders to the extent that it will be able to provide a further update later this week.

A sale of the Canadian business is also close, although any deal will be valued at “low-single digit millions of pounds”, according to people close to the company.

The next couple of weeks is likely to be crucial to HMV’s efforts to place itself on a sounder financial footing, because without a sale of its books chain, it’s unlikely to be able to meet its borrowing covenants when they are tested

HMV declined to comment.

cue daily mail letters asking when to start spelling "Great Britain" with the Rs backwards

the big we're not desperate sale has started. some new releases now £4 (recent glasvegas album !), lots are £3 etc.

I got the 2CD Screamadelica remaster for a fiver at Heathrow Airport.

they keep sending out ridiculous offers via email to; there was one where all pure cards members got £5 off any purchase with no minimum spend. so i bought a £5 book. for free.

and then another one with 20% off hmv online this week with no minimum spend

British taxpayers will become shareholders in struggling entertainment chain HMV as state-owned banks take a stake in the group.

As exclusively revealed by Sky City editor Mark Kleinman, HMV’s lenders will be granted warrants in the company worth up to 5 per cent of the company’s shares after striking a £220m refinancing deal.

The arrangement is designed to give the struggling retailer’s banks exposure to any recovery in HMV’s share price during the coming years.

It has already issued four profit warnings this year.

Fucked, in other words:

Struggling British music and DVD retailer HMV , which has been selling off assets in a bid to secure its future, said trading conditions were set to remain tough as it posted a 61 percent drop in annual profit.

The 90-year-old group, which has issued four profit warnings this year, said on Thursday it made a profit before tax and one-off items of 28.9 million pounds ($46.2 million) in the 53 weeks to April 30, in line with its latest guidance.

After tax and non-cash impairments charges from the assets it has sold, it plunged to a loss of 121.7 million pounds.

61%!!

The important bit is the last line I quoted, and this bit from Music Week:

The sale of Waterstone’s and HMV Canada resulted in a non-cash impairment of £111.5m, which led the company to a total group loss after tax and exceptional items of £121.7m, as compared to a profit of £49.2m in 2010.

HMV has said that money from the sales - £53m from Waterstone’s and £2.0m from HMV Canada – will go towards reducing debut, which has ballooned to £170.7m from £67.6m in 2010.

oh oh. i guess the 2 hold steady cds i bought for £3 each this week aint going to help much then.

The retailer, which reported a “disappointing and unsatisfactory” year, said today it hopes to have 150 stores reconfigured by Christmas to add more technology products. HMV recorded a 123.1 million-pound ($198.1 million) full-year loss after taking impairment charges on the Waterstone’s and Canada sales, the Maidenhead, England-based company said in a statement on Regulatory News Service.

Products such as MP3 players and headphones now represent 8 percent of HMV U.K. sales, and the company said it’s also trying to expand revenue by promoting events in stores. Waterstone’s book chain has been sold and agreement reached on selling its 121 Canadian stores as part of a 220 million-pound refinancing program.

“We believe that there is a clear place for HMV as a specialist retailer of entertainment products and that by rebalancing the space in many of our stores away from declining categories to a focused range of high-growth technology products we will both enhance our offering to our customers and strengthen our sales base,” Chairman Philip Rowley said in the statement.

A clue to future business strategy?

Soon to be 'HMV Headphone - Shut'

wonder if this is the new area that has appeared in the bristol shop.
they got rid off a whole are of console games, and built a new desk which is now full of gadgets you can play with.
just like pc world/apple ..
not really gone to look closer, as its of no interest to me.

I stopped going to HMV several months ago after the Oxford Circus branch said they couldn’t specially order in any CDs for a month (which were clearly orderable from their website) because they were going through a “drought.” In addition, several US imports (nu-R&B/gospel) abruptly disappeared from the OxCirc racks and the HMV website; I guess bills hadn’t been paid.

Really they’ve no one to blame but themselves. They should have concentrated on their music stock and not clog up the front of their stores with ugly displays of DVDs, games and 2 for £10 loss leaders. The Aspergic thinking that led to all the specialists in the regional stores being replaced by robots because Management Wanted Every Branch To Look The Same was also fatal.

I’ve pretty much given up on record shops now and buy practically everything from Amazon and similar. Why did I wait so long? The prices are cheaper, the service is swift, you don’t get grumpy counter staff “characters” with an attitude problem, and all the parcels in the post make every day seem like Christmas.

The irony is, of course, that the reason I came to London thirty years ago was because of all the great record shops that sold stuff I could never find in Glasgow. Now I’m online because they sell stuff I can never find in London.

Or, at least, it was one of the main reasons.

you moving back up here then? ;)

Since you dont need to worry about no record shops in Hamilton now

haha it does make me wonder why I bothered moving in the first place! (well there were other more important reasons) but no - if we're going to move anywhere it'll probably be to Toronto (Rotate This, Sonic Boom, Penguin Music etc. etc.; terrific record shops).

oh i forgot you got married. Hamilton is really shit now. Dunno when you were last back up but its really sad there not being a record shop. Would even welcome a music magpie at the moment. i buy pretty much everything online now but its just not the same as killing 30 mins looking through a record shop 10 mins from my house. Even though our price etc had bugger all i liked occasionally i found something. Amazon or distros etc at least are cheaper than a £4 bus/train fare to Glasgow. But i know in my heart that a record store could not survive here. Esp one stocking stuff i like. But still, its nice to browse sometimes in hope.

just got 4 cheap jazz cds in mail from amazon as i typed this (3 coltrane 1 coleman)

when woolies shut down i did get some terrific bargains. Theres a wilkos there now. Good shop but its not woolies y'know

My mum loves Wilkinsons!

Was last up there in May and even the charity shops weren't up to much (you see all these Sydney Devine/Francie & Josie CDs and suddenly remember WHY YOU LEFT)

and all the parcels in the post make every day seem like Christmas.

Yes, except for that it's christmas for you/me, and not christmas for the wife/kids....

Oh no, it's Christmas for both myself and Lena! I get the CDs, she gets the cookbooks... ;-)

you see all these Sydney Devine/Francie & Josie CDs and suddenly remember WHY YOU LEFT

You mean Fran & Anna not Francie & Josie, don't you? I'm sure there are Francie & Josie CDs but could they be worse than Fran & Anna?

francie and josie rule so much

I'm waiting for Rollins' version of "The Glasgow Underground Song."

I bought a Sonny Rollins CD from HMV just last week! (First purchase from there in 6 months)

I bought Heavenly Creatures on blu-ray from HMV last Friday, and the smiling girl behind the counter complimented me on my t-shirt - beat that Amazon.com! (saying that, I came down this morning and found the George Harrison doc-film waiting for me on the doormat - thanks Amazon.com!)

HMV had sales of £1.8bn in the 2010 financial year, and apparently the future is worth...

The headphone market has nearly doubled in size in the past five years with 8.2m sets expected to be sold in the UK this year. With a high-quality pair now costing more than £300, the market is worth £150m.

I keep clicking this thread every time it appears, convinced it's going to announce a closing down/fire sale, in case I have a slim window to let it over and get those J&MC deluxe sets for the cheap. Oh, and maybe the Boo Radley ones which have always been stupidly expensive.

do HMV sell high-quality cans? i thought they just did those horrible primary coloured emo toys

HMV will launch a new retail venture, selling only electrical goods, to try to compensate for falling CD sales. The first store, under the banner of HMV Techshop, will open tomorrow in the One New Change shopping centre in the City of London. It will sell premium goods such as Apple iPads and headphones from Bose and Beats by Dr Dre.

i was in hmv yesterday. impressed by their 2 for £15 on bluray films. not that i bought any.

HMV head of technology Ewan Pinder said: “HMV’s remit has always been to give its customers the widest-possible access to music, film and games, however they want to discover and enjoy them.

“So our move into personal technology products, including through this new-style store, is actually a very natural next step for us that supports our continuing transformation into a broad-based entertainment brand.

“Headphones, in particular, are really taking off in a big way, and are set to be among the ‘must-have’ gift items this Christmas.”

I take off my headphones in the normal way, myself.

Yeah, but do you really take them off?

Do I ever really put them on?

Only Dr Dre can tell.

i find headphones odd as a "must-have item" as everybody who needs a pair already has a pair - they're an upgrade item, not a must-have.

that said, i saw three pairs of those Beats headphones on a single tube journey recently. and they start at £130 a piece.

Is that with an Oyster Card?