OUTLOOK - EMI to report solid H1 results

LONDON (AFX) - EMI Group PLC, the world's third biggest record company, will this morning publish an improved set of fiscal first-half results following the release of two chart-topping albums.
In a recent trading update, EMI said turnover at its Recorded Music division rose 4.5 pct in the six months to the end of Sept, thanks to new material from Coldplay and Gorrilaz.
That should help overall group revenue rise to about 917 mln stg in the first half, up from 851.0 mln last year. Adjusted pretax profits, meanwhile, should jump to 40.5 mln stg from 36.9 mln, according to analysts' forecasts.
Conor O'Shea at UK broker Teather & Greenwood said he would be looking for evidence of a pick-up in US CD sales, which have been in decline over the past 12 months as more and more music is sold over the internet.
Despite the uncertainties clouding the record industry's longer term outlook, O'Shea reckons that EMI can at least expect a strong end to its financial year.
"EMI's release schedule looks strong, which may compensate for the lack of depth in their roster and below-average exposure to faster-growing genres like Urban and Latin," said O'Shea in a research note.
The group is expected to announce an interim dividend of 2 pence per share, unchanged from last year's level.