Amsterdam, Feb 12: Blind Italian singer Andrea Bocelli and US pop group Hanson helped boost music sales of Dutch group PolyGram NV as it reported nine per cent rise in its 1997 net profits.Polygram also voiced optimism about its prospects this year despite concerns about demand for music in Asia amid the financial crisis there.
Polygram's net profits in 1997 rose to 787 million guilders($385.7 million) last year from 722 million in 1996 and was in middle of analysts' forecast range.
The company's music sales grew 17 per cent to 9.30 billion guilders out of total group sales of 11.095 billion which also showed similar growth.
"For the year as a whole, we feel we have an exciting line-up of music and film releases and we are optimistic about the outlook for 1998," PolyGram chairman Alain Levy said in a company statement accompanying the 1997 results. Levy said 1998 would see an incremental cash flow for Polygram in a market which he believed was expected to repeat a three per cent growth in globalsales. Polygram's sales in southeast Asia, which account for nearly 85 per cent of its total Asian sales, reported only a 1.2-per cent increase in its operating income in 1997.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
