HMV group reported sales declining by 10.2% in like-for-like sales in the five- week Christmas period, and 10.8% in the 10 weeks to January 1, but did not reveal any turnover figures.

HMV stores saw sales declining by 12.9% in the UK over the Christmas period and 13.3% in the 10 weeks to January 1, with UK and Ireland stores performing the worst, with like-for-like sales down 13.6% over Christmas.

Waterstones stores performed far better, with like-for-like sales declining by just 0.4% over Christmas, and 2.1% in the 10 weeks to January 1.

HMV currently operates around 280 stores in the UK and more than 700 including international outlets.

In a statement to the City, HMV said: "The challenging entertainment markets, combined with the severe weather over our peak trading period, have had a negative impact on our trading year to date. In addition, there are well-reported consumer headwinds as we enter 2011.

"We are taking aggressive action as we continue to tightly manage our cost base. We expect to exit around 60 stores across our UK businesses over the next 12 months as we seek to reshape our store portfolio. In addition, we have identified a further £10m per annum of cost savings from across the group."

HMV revealed before Christmas that its end-of-year figures would depend on the performance over the festive period.

HMV appointed Graham Sim as its first marketing director in August, and the group has been diversifying into events, cinema, digital music sales and clothing.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk