Warners reports: Not brilliant figures

Warner Music Group is being talked about as a possible purchaser for EMI when Citi are done with it. But given their own struggles, would cutting the number of majors to three just be a shortcut to cutting them to two?

Digital Revenue Represented 37% of U.S. Recorded Music Revenue in the Quarter

That's good, right?

Not really, because the share is rising mainly because other sales are falling. It's all about the loss:

Net loss was $0.12 per diluted share compared to net loss of $0.11 per diluted share in the prior-year quarter. The Quarterly Severance Charges had a $0.07 per diluted share impact in the current quarter and a $0.03 per diluted share impact in the prior-year quarter.
[...]
Net loss was $18million

So, all a bit grim. But, hey, great times are just around the corner:

"While industry pressures and a highly competitive release schedule limited our results in the first quarter, we're confident that our disciplined A&R investments, successful revenue diversification and innovative digital strategies will drive WMG's long-term growth," said Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Warner Music Group's Chairman and CEO.

The 'first' quarter for Warners is, of course, the bit that includes Christmas. In other words, the bit where you should be making the money for the year. Let's hope their A&R is finding magic elves.