In an article about an upcoming (reportedly on Friday) announcement regarding EMI Music's organizational structure, the Financial Times previewed EMI's financial performance for the first half of its fiscal year ended September 30. EMI Music is said to have an EBITDA of £59m in the six months to September 30. That compared with a loss of £14m last year. Revenues were £482 million and digital revenues increased 37% to £102 million. (The recent increase in digital revenues is a big improvement. Digital rose only 29% during the latest fiscal year.)

EMI will probably tout these results as a sign of its improvements, but the six-month EBITDA was not too far ahead of the mark achieved in EMI's painful fiscal year. As detailed in the brutally frank Maltby report a few weeks ago, EMI Music had EBITDA of £58 million in its fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. The company reported a loss of £757 million due to high restructuring costs, interest expense and "other" financial expenses.

EMI Music may have fewer returns and a more profitable roster, but depreciation and finance charges will knock any positive earnings measure deep into the red. Even so, the reported numbers show signs of improvement in spite of a depressed market share and questions about its ability to sign and/or develop talent.