UK Retailer HMV Posts First Half Losses, 'Significant Doubt' Over Future

UK video game retailer HMV Group has posted financial results for the first half of the current fiscal year, noting a decline in revenue and notable losses year-over-year. HMV is one of the leading video game, music and video retailers in the UK, and currently operates over 250 stores across four countries. Earlier this year, the company noted that its sales of video games had "significantly underperformed." A statement from the company explained that, while it is confident that it will "have adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future," the current economic climate "may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern in the future." "This has been a challenging start to the year," admitted HMV chief executive Simon Fox. "However, we have taken decisive action to restructure the business and are now seeing the benefits of this, particularly in our Technology products business." He continued, "Like all consumer-facing companies we are facing tough trading conditions but we continue to push forwards through this period. We remain well prepared for the key trading days ahead." For the half year ended October 29, the company reported revenue of £364.9 million ($566.5 million), down 17.6 percent compared to the previous fiscal year's £442.7 million ($687.3 million). In terms of losses, the company posted a loss of £50.1 million ($77.8 million), compared to losses of £30.9 million ($50.0 million) year-over-year.