EMI profits surge, still seeks Warner Music deal

LONDON (Reuters) - EMI Group <EMI.L>, the world's third-largest music company, said on Tuesday its full-year profits climbed sharply on the success of albums from Coldplay and Gorillaz.

The company, whose $4.2 billion takeover bid for its smaller rival Warner Music <WMG.N> was rebuffed, said it continued to believe a deal "would be very attractive to both sets of shareholders but we will only pursue a transaction that delivers enhanced value and earnings accretion to our shareholders."

EMI's pretax profit excluding amortization and exceptional items for the year to March 31 was 159.3 million pounds ($299.1 million), in line with analysts estimates, compared with 141.1 million pounds a year earlier. Revenue increased 3.9 percent to 2.08 billion.

Digital music sales surged to 112.1 million from 46.9 million pounds. The music industry expects revenues from mobile phones and song downloads eventually to offset the continued decline in physical formats like CDs.

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