Celebs fail to halt slide in fortunes at Waterstone's

Falling sales of celebrity biographies and travel books have hit high street books chain Waterstone's, the firm’s owner has revealed.

Waterstone's parent HMV said like-for-like sales at its bookstore arm were down 4.5% in the last 16 weeks of its financial year, a further slide from the 3.8% fall it experienced across the 12 months.

The group said while children’s books and fiction had remained resilient in the downturn, higher-priced non-fiction was hit particularly hard.

HMV said like-for-like sales across the group were flat compared with last year, while its UK and Irish music stores saw a 1.9% rise in the 12 months to April 25.

Chief executive Simon Fox said the group expected profits this year to be towards the upper end of market expectations.

“This has been driven by strong trading in HMV UK & Ireland, which continues to benefit from initiatives to transform the business, and from maximising the opportunities arising from competitors exiting the market,” he said.

Article courtesy of the Evening Echo newspaper.