EMI saw annual profits slip more than eight percent as piracy continued to hit the record industry, although acts such as Norah Jones and Coldplay helped it gain market share, the British music group said Monday.
Headline pre-tax profits for the year ending on March 31 fell to 163.3 million pounds (244 million euros, 291 million dollars), 8.7 percent lower than the same period a year before, EMI said in a statement. The figure was near the bottom end of market expectations.
Nonetheless, EMI had delivered what were good results in "a marketplace that has continued to be extremely challenging", group chairman Eric Nicoli said.
"We delivered full-year sales and operating profit close to last year's level while the global market declined by almost six percent in the same period," he said.
"This achievement demonstrates the strength of both our recorded music and music publishing businesses."
The figures were boosted by "notable results" for artists such as multi-million selling US singer-songwriter Norah Jones, increasingly popular British angst-rockers Coldplay and compatriot Robbie Williams, Nicoli said.