EMI dragging down Terra Firma

The bumbling regime at the head of EMI owners Terra Firma have sacked two of the people who helped Guy Hands' attempts to control the record label. The FT reports that Chris Roling, appointed by Mr Hands as EMI’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, and Ashley Unwin, the music group’s chief operating officer for the UK and North America have left the company; Terra Firma has been forced to pump more cash into EMI to keep its bankers happy.

The FT suggests that making money from EMI is proving to be sticky:

Terra Firma’s equity injection highlights the scale of the turnround challenge facing Mr Hands without access to the credit markets he had hoped would allow a securitisation of EMI’s music publishing and catalogue businesses. Mr Hands has said EMI remains on target to cut £200m of costs, and has highlighted a £200m improvement to operating cash flow in the six months to September.

Ah, yes, Mr. Hands - a massive improvement to cash flow in the first half of the year. All you need to do is release a Coldplay album every six months, and you'll be back on course in no time.