Terra Firma's Guy Hands has told a group of key investors that EMI's recorded music division returned to profitability two months into its fiscal year. The numbers include Radiohead's "Best Of" but not the recent successful Coldplay launch.
Also contributing to profitability was a drop in returns from 40% to less than 20% by cutting back on the industry practice of over-shipping. "Guy was clearly pleased with the results but he stressed that it was too early for people to start saying things had turned around," an investor who attended the meeting told the UK's Telegraph.
ANALYSIS: Also not included in the march towards profits were the massive layoffs that began to play out in earnest this week. And while smartly shifting more resources towards catalog and digital efforts. Hands & CO. are still not aggressively addressing the core issue that will define EMI's future - new artist acquisition and development.
