// HMV says is it on the path to recovery after booking a marginal loss of £198,000 despite lockdown restrictions
// It also recorded £187m worth of sales and underlying profits for the period came in at £457,948
// HMV says it is robust enough to handle further lockdowns under its new owner
HMV has insisted it is on the path to recovery after it recorded a marginal loss despite lockdown restrictions, in what is its first annual trading update since being rescued from administration.
In accounts filed at Companies House recently, the music and entertainment retailer booked a pre-tax loss of £198,000 in the 16 month period to the end of May.
HMV also recorded £187 million worth of sales and underlying profits for the period came in at £457,948.
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The tail end of HMV’s reported period factored in two and a half months of the three-month, UK-wide lockdown that took place over the spring, which saw HMV’s 108 stores temporarily shut down.
With 93 stores in England temporarily closed again due to the current second lockdown, the retailer insisted it was confident “it could manage through relevant future [coronavirus] disruption”.
It added that it had factored in various Covid-19 trading scenarios, including further lockdowns, and insisted its comeback can weather the storm.
HMV said it invested in its website to help make up for decline in bricks-and-mortar visits while also selling more exclusive products in stores to attract shoppers.
HMV was purchased in a rescue deal by music mogul Doug Putman in February last year after it crashed into administration for the second time in five years in December 2018.
Putman, who runs the Canadian retailer Sunrise Records, closed 15 stores after paying £883,000 to taking control of the business and vowing to make it a success again.
One of the 15 HMV stores that shut include the famous Oxford Street flagship in London, where it had a presence since 1921.
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