EMI, the music group that his home to Robbie Williams and the Scissor Sisters, is bracing itself to report a 3 per cent slide in first-half revenues after its schedule for album releases became heavily weighted to the second half of the year.

As it set out its stall for independence with its first trading statement since £2 billion plus takeover talks with Warner collapsed in July, EMI said underlying pre-tax profits for the six months to the end of September should be about £27 million.

It said revenues at its music division were likely to fall 4 per cent over the period, with its publishing division set to report a flat first-half performance similar to the same period last year.

But despite the setback with its schedule, EMI maintained it was still on track to deliver full-year results in line with board expectations. Consensus forecasts suggest annual pre-tax profits of about £180 million on turnover of more than £2 billion.

It also said cost-savings and an improvement in operating margins to 3 per cent at the music division should offset some of the first-half revenues declines.

Shares closed on Friday at 270p, valuing the group at more than £2.1 billion.

Richard Hunter, the head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown, the stockbroker, said: "This skew towards the latter part of the year must now be delivered to support the share price. However, given the shares' 23 per cent rise over the last year, it is difficult to see a catalyst for the price going forward unless there was to be any resurrection of talks with Warner Music."

EMI, which is still believed to have potential bid predators circling, will be pinning its hopes on a release schedule for the second half that includes new titles from Norah Jones, Tina Turner, Moby and a Beatles album containing new material. EMI said the new releases and cost-savings should combine to produce strong growth in revenues and profits.

Today's EMI update comes after its on-off merger talks with America's Warner fell apart after a European court ruling on the 2004 merger between Sony and BMG. Further clarity about a renewed bid for EMI is not expected to emerge until the uncertainty over the ruling is resolved.

The ruling, which saw the European Commission reject the Sony BMG deal, raised the prospect that it would rule out further heavyweight consolidation in the European music industry.

Simon Wallis at Collins Stewart noted that the main attraction for investors remains the possibility of a resurrected deal with Warner.

"A merger with Warner Music Group remains the main long-term catalyst on this stock. We think that a deal between the two is inevitable and will enable between £160 million and £230 million [of cost savings].

For more details on the shares click here

Times Recommends

• C&G axed - 1,660 jobs to be lost
• UK house prices rise 1.1% as buyers return
• Mixed reaction to US banks repaying bailouts