Entertainment retailer HMV has taken advantage of the collapse of former high street rivals Woolworths and Zavvi to post an 11.5% rise in profits.
The music and book chain, which saw sales shoot up at the weekend following Michael Jackson's death, made profit before tax and one-off items of £63m in the year to April 25.
Chief executive Simon Fox told Sky News: "We're very pleased that profits moved forward - there aren't that many retailers reporting that profits are moving forward.
"We're two years into a three-year plan and we're very much on track - which is great news."
But despite strong growth in its HMV stores, the group's Waterstones bookseller business performed less well, with sales of travel books, encyclopaedias and dictionaries suffering.
Mr Fox said: "The whole book market contracted 3% and, although fiction books are doing well, some non-fiction titles and categories have been struggling."
HMV has widened its focus recently in response to the threat from competitors.
It has entered the live music and ticketing markets, is trailing digital cinemas in partnership with Curzon and selling mobile phones in a deal with France Telecom's Orange.
Mr Fox said the group was cautious about the economic environment, but confident of its plans for the current financial year.
Its sales received a huge fillip from a tragic source at the weekend, when fans rushed to buy Michael Jackson records following the star's death.
"It's an extraordinary turn of events but our stores were overwhelmed at the weekend by fans looking to buy CDs and DVDs and we saw something like an 80-fold increase in sales of CDs at the weekend for the Michael Jackson range of products."
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