The album delay has not concerned Coldplay's Chris Martin

Pre-tax pre-exceptional profits were �141.9m ($259.5m) in the year to the end of March, down from �163.3m in the previous year.

However, digital sales rocketed to �49.7m from �15.1m a year earlier.

Downloaded digital sales now account for 2.5% of group revenues, helping EMI recover from years of online piracy.

The music industry is counting on digital music sales downloaded from websites such as iTunes and Napster to drive profits growth, and is clamping down on illicit file-sharers by taking them to court.

"We remain confident that digital music will drive the industry forward at attractive growth rates in the coming years," said chairman Eric Nicoli.

'Challenging'

Back in February EMI warned that music sales would be down due to lower reorders than expected and the Coldplay and Gorillaz release delays.

Even though the global recorded music market fell only 1% during the year, trading remains challenging, the company warned.

The Gorillaz offering finally went on sale this week, while Coldplay's long-awaited third album will go on sale on 6 June.

Coldplay have shrugged off the financial impact of its delayed album on EMI.

The band's singer Chris Martin courted controversy last week when he told Reuters: "I don't really care about EMI. I'm not concerned about that.

"I think shareholders are the greatest evil of this modern world."