Sanctuary Group announced on November 23 that Rough Trade Records, the UK home of The Strokes, Jarvis Cocker and Sufjan Stevens, will have disappointing annual sales. In the announcement at its website, the troubled British music company -- which houses recorded music, artist management, music publishing, music licensing and merchandising under one roof -- indicated it is considering selling its 49% stake in Rough Trade. Rough Trade is "likely to record a loss before tax of approximately £2.8 million" for the year ended September 30, 2006.

What a year or so its been for Sanctuary. It has had accoutning problems. Iron Maiden did not renew its management agreewith with the company. The company's acquisition of Matthew Knowles' production and management company didn't work out and in July Sanctuary sold back Knowle's agency for £2.7 million. In May, Sanctuary fired co-founder and chief executive Andy Taylor due to his handling of accounting problems that affected the company's 2005 results.