HMV defied the high street gloom this morning helped by UK sales of the Nintendo Wii, the debut album from singer Duffy and with the benefits of the new Grand Theft Auto 4, still to come.

The entertainment group, which owns the book retailer Waterstone’s as well as music and DVD shops, beat analysts’ expectations with like-for-like sales that were up 10.1 per cent in the 16 weeks to April 26, and by 7.3 per cent over the whole year.

However, sales at its international operations in Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore were down 1.3 per cent and Waterstone’s was also weaker than the rest of the group but like-for-like sales still climbed 6.6 per cent.

HMV said that it is confident full-year pre-tax profits will be towards the upper end of market expectations, which are currently for between £46 million and £58 million.

Simon Fox, the chief executive or HMV, said: “As we complete the first full year of our three-year turnaround plan, we are ahead of where we expected to be. We still have much to do, but I am confident that the Group is well positioned for the next phase of our transformation.”

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