LONDON (VIP-NEWS) — Live music, marketing and artist services company the Mama Group has increased profit after tax to £4.94 million for the six months ending Jan. 31, 2009.
The London-based company benefited from the sale in January of a number of subsidiaries to a new company, Mean Fiddler Group Limited, a joint venture with U.K. entertainment retailer HMV. Mama received 50% of the issued share capital of Mean Fiddler Group and £18.245 million cash from HMV for the 50% stake in the new company, which operates 11 U.K. venues including the HMV Forum and HMV Hammersmith Apollo.
The profit on the disposal of the venue subsidiaries was £6.845 million; Mama Group profit after tax for the same period a year ago was £125,000.
"The first half of the year was dominated by our agreement with HMV," said co-chief executives Adam Driscoll and Dean James in a statement. "This was a landmark deal that alters the face of the live venue business in the U.K."
Revenue increased 38% from £12.7 million to £17.5 million pounds.
Mama Group also has stakes in festivals including Barfly – The Great Escape, Lovebox Weekender and Global Gathering.
Its artist management roster "continued to grow," according to a statement, and now stands at 40 artists including White Lies, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and Crystal Castles. Mama Group also has a 20% stake in Canada's Nettwerk Music Group.
"The second half of the year will see stronger income driven both by our ownership of festivals that take place in that period and via income delivered into our artist management business by clients who are playing at a huge number of festivals and other events around the world between now and the end of the summer," said Driscoll and James. –According to Billboard
