EMI CEO Calls New $546 Million Loss An “Incredibly Strong Performance”

EMI has reported a $546 million pre-tax loss on slightly increased gross revenues of $2.3 billion revenues for the fiscal year that ended in March 2012. Because much of the loss came from tax write-down, in an email to EMI staff, CEO Roger Faxon called the results an "incredibly strong performance… set against the backdrop of a challenging state of the music market and wider economic conditions".

Faxon dismissed the loss as "just an accounting issue" because much of EMI's loss came thanks to a $582 million write-down of the value of its two divisions (recorded music and publishing) after bankers Citi seized control of the company.  In fact, EMI's operating profit before the write-off rose to $208 million from $107 million last year.

"These results are a demonstration of the success of how our strategy has really helped us to enhance the way we connect our artists and writers with a worldwide audience," said Faxon in the letter obtained by The Guardian. "This isn't a success story that you're seeing at other music companies. It's our job to make sure that these businesses are ideally positioned for the next stage of their storied histories under new ownership."