Morrissey is back with a new album at no 1 in the album charts out on Sanctuary Records (SGP). This is a big deal for a pretty small company. Added to this the first half results out today should show improvements in first half sales - their niche strategy is working. Expectations of an upbeat trading statement with double digit growth bucking the trend in the music industry. Share should tick up today.

Sanctuary takeover bid
MoneyAM
Struggling UK record label Sanctuary Group announced an agreed 20p per share takeover offer.

The offer, from Centenary Music, a subsidiary of Universal Music, values the company at 44.5m.

The company said the bid represents a 77.8% premium to its closing price on May 17th, the day it announced that it was in takeover talks.

'Growth and profitability will continue to be hampered by the Sanctuary Group's present capital structure and by industry factors. Therefore, we intend to recommend this offer from Centenary,' Sanctuary chairman Robert Ayling said in a statement.

News of the bid came as Sanctuary reported a first-half pretax loss of 6.7m, down from a restated 27.1m a year earlier. However, sales of recorded music fell to 16.4m, down from 25.3m last time.

Sanctuary, home to Morrissey and Marc Almond, hit financial problems two years ago, hampered by an expensive US acquisition and delayed album releases. The group narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2006 after tapping up shareholders for 110m.