Warner Music Losses Grow 44%, Revenue Flat Despite Digital Gains
(UDATED) Warner Music Group this morning reported that losses were up 44% to $26 million in their first fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2011. Revenue in Q1 was flat, inching up from $778 million a year ago to $779 million. Digital revenue did go up 17% to $219 million and Michael Buble' sold 6 million units at Christmas, but that was not enough to cover a 44% operating income increase to $39 million.
The company attributed the $26 million net loss to "the impact of an increase in interest expense, to $57 million from $47 million, related to the July 2011 refinancing of certain existing indebtedness in connection with the acquisition of the company by Access Industries."
During the conference call this morning, WMG executives admitted that the music group has a weak release schedule planned for the next 3-6 months, but promised to make up for it with more cost cuts and a surge before the end of the fiscal year.
More great news from the deck of the Titanic…good grief everyone into the lifeboats who hasn’t already gone.
They should have held on to Van Halen…..
I feel bad for the artist that are schedule to be release in the next few weeks. Its sounds like Warber don’t believe in those artists.
In other words they’ve put themselves in hock to the max, and between that and excessive executive salaries (and most likely insider sell-offs of stock), they’ve got “operating cost increases.” Let’s hope it doesn’t cause a huge dent in the economy when it lets loose, and they don’t go crawling to Obama wanting a payoff.