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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Warner Music Posts $38 Million Net Loss


Warner Music Group, the only one of the four major record labels that reports its financial information in detail as a stand-alone public company, had a net loss of $38 million for the first three months of 2011, with slight growth in its recorded music and publishing operations.
The company had $682 million in revenue for the period, its fiscal second quarter, up 2.4 percent from the same quarter last year. Warner took in $550 million for its recorded music and $137 million for music publishing, both segments up about 2 percent. (The company attributes the $5 million difference in revenue totals to overlap between divisions.)
But Warner’s $38 million loss was an increase of 39 percent from its second fiscal quarter last year, when it had a loss of $28 million. The company has $319 million in cash on its balance sheet, and $1.95 billion in long-term debt.
Warner agreed on Friday to be sold to Access Industries, the investment vehicle led by the Russian-born investor Len Blavatnik, for $3.3 billion, in a deal that would take the company private. The sale is expected to be completed by the fall.
Unlike its previous quarters, the company did not hold a conference call for analysts.