HMV hit by poor Waterstone's sales

Underlying sales at HMV stores rose while those at Waterstone's fell

HMV has reported a fall in group-wide sales over the Christmas period, hit by a poor performance by its book shop business Waterstone's.

The retailer said group like-for-like sales - which strip out the impact of new store openings - declined 1.2% in the five weeks to 2 January.

While same-store sales increased 1.2% at the firm's HMV outlets, they declined by 8.5% at Waterstone's.

HMV also announced the appointment of a new managing director at Waterstone's.

Dominic Myers is to take on the position, with his predecessor - Gerry Johnson - to leave both Waterstone's and the wider HMV group.

Mr Myers, 47, has been HMV's group development director since 2007, after first joining the business in 2006 to lead the integration of the former Ottakar's book chain into Waterstone's.

Following the collapse of the Borders chain at the end of last year, Waterstone's is now the only UK-wide specialist bookseller with High Street stores.

"Whilst the recent performance of Waterstone's has been unsatisfactory, it remains an excellent business and brand, with a great opportunity as the only remaining specialist bookseller on the High Street," said HMV chief executive Simon Fox.

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