Coldplay delay to hit record giant's profits

Delays in the release of albums by Coldplay and Gorillaz will put a massive dent in the profits of music industry giant EMI, the company said today.

The albums will not now appear before March - pushing their sales figures beyond the record company's current financial year, which ends next month.

Coldplay, who had been expected to bring out their eagerly anticipated third album before then, have admitted recording sessions are a fraught time for them.

The band almost split while making their last album A Rush Of Blood To The Head.

But EMI, which expects overall album sales to be poor both this month and next, also suffered from much lower than expected demand in January.

This will mean music division sales are down eight to nine per cent on expectations for the year. City analysts who had forecast profits of £170 million now believe they will come in at only around £138million.

EMI shares were expected to tumble at least 10 per cent on the bad news.