Economic downturn hits book sales at HMV

Waterstone’s owner HMV today said the book market had come under strain as it bore the brunt of a downturn in consumer spending.

The high street bookseller saw its like-for-like sales drop 3.1% in the 26 weeks to October 25. The comparison showed a 1.4% fall when adjusted for the impact of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on last year’s result.