HMV, the music chain and owner of Waterstone's, today cautioned that shoppers' appetite for books was waning amid weakening consumer confidence.

The company reported that sales at its Waterstone's book stores fell by 3.1 per cent in the 26 weeks to October 25. Taking into account sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last book in JK Rowling's series on the boy wizard, sales fell by 1.4 per cent over the period.

HMV admitted today that, since the end of October, trading had deteriorated again, adding: “...the markets in which we operate have weakened in line with general consumer confidence.”

Overall, the group said pre-tax losses during the first six months of the year narrowed from £28.7 million to £27.5 million. Like-for-like sales at HMV’s music shops rose 1.6 per cent, with operating losses narrowing by £400,000 to £12.7 million.

HMV was optimistic about the crucial Christmas period, and conceded that the group could benefit from the exit of Woolworths from the high street, by increasing its share of the book, DVD and music market.

HMV said: “Over the last two weeks there have been unprecedented changes to the competitive landscape of the entertainment sector, which we believe will strengthen HMV UK for the medium term.”

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