Well Merck, looks like the joke is on you.
Maybe you should've been a bit more responsive to Moz and his needs.

Time for a new Morrissey album to help them out!!

It's steadily unraveling how dire Sanctuary's position is, and I expect Moz knew/sussed a while back. As a major artist, they may even have told him as a courtesy, but of course a profits warning has to take serious notice of stock exchange lockdowns.

The likeliest scenario is that they will be bought, and although EMI & Warner don't want it, you can see how cheesed off Moz'd be about being sold like a piece of meat again.

And the great Attack adventure will now come to nothing. That was probably an indulgence that Sanctuary would close down in cost-cutting mode.

He'll re-emerge at another boutique record company, just in time for the autobiography's last chapter.

On the general message board, Theo von Gogh Martyrs Brigade has provided us w/the latest:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,820 9- 1658912,00.html
Record delays spark new profit alert at Sanctuary
By Dan Sabbagh, Media Editor
SANCTUARY, the music group, unveiled its second profit warning in six months after admitting that delayed releases — including a cancelled album from The Strokes — would leave interim profits 40 per cent below last year’s levels.
The warning knocked 30 per cent from the shares and prompted City analysts to reduce their forecasts for half-year underlying profits from £10.5 million to £6.5 million at the record label and artist management group.
The company blamed “significant slippage of record releases” in the half to March 31, although executives refused to name those responsible, arguing that they had a responsibility to protect the artists involved.
One release that was definitely lost was a live album from American rockers The Strokes, which had been due just before Christmas. Julian Casablancas, the lead singer, is thought to have dropped the project because the quality of the mastered version was not good enough.
Last year record sales generated £18.9 million of profits, three quarters of the group total, and 57 per cent of turnover. Sanctuary recording artists include The Libertines as well as the more established Morrissey and Robert Plant.
The consequences of the profit warning are so serious that the British company, founded by the managers of Iron Maiden, the heavy metal band, could lose its independence. Sanctuary has had to abandon its own acquisition strategy, as the share price has collapsed while predators have begun circling.
Earlier this month Sanctuary admitted that it was in “preliminary talks” that could lead to “an offer or further business opportunity” with more than one party, one of whom has been tentatively identified as the newly floated Warner Music Group. In the immediate aftermath of the profit warning, the talks were still continuing, although the group’s equity value dropped from £160 million to £110 million.
Sanctuary also said that it was engaged in a “thorough review” of all its operating activities, and would update investors at its interim results in ten days’ time. The review is code for a cost-cutting exercise, necessary because the company had over-expanded.
In January the company issued its first profits warning after five years as a quoted company because it was forced to make an £11.4 million write-off related to the sale of its TV production business, Cloud 9. It took comfort that, at that point, its core music business was relatively unaffected.
Sanctuary is also in dispute with Morrissey, the former Smiths frontman, who has been unhappy that the company said, wrongly, that he would be playing at the Isle of Wight festival. Morrissey says he wants to sign with a new label.
Even good news, such as the £16 million signing in April of Sir Elton John to a five-year management contract, now has a downside. To fund that deal, Sanctuary placed 30 million shares at 40½p. Yesterday the stock closed at 29¾p, down 13¼p on the day, and investors who signed up have lost a quarter of their investment.
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http://bu siness.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4703560
Fri 17 Jun 2005
10:45am (UK)
Sanctuary Plunges on Profits Warning
By David Winning, PA City Staff
Entertainment group Sanctuary lost a third of its value today after it blamed delays to record releases for a probable 40% fall in earnings.
Sanctuary, whose portfolio of artists includes Morrissey and Iron Maiden, was forced to rush out a profits warning less than a fortnight before it was due to unveil its results for the six months to March 31.
Investors reacted angrily to the news with Sanctuary shares plummeting 29% amid fears that the profits warning might scare off a potential bidder for the company.
Sanctuary revealed a fortnight ago that it was in the early stages of ta

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