February 5, 2002 15:28

CAREY-ING A LOT OF BAGGAGE

"Specific one-off costs" see label's projected profits plummet...

MARIAH CAREY's brief stay at EMI has seen the label's projected profits dive by almost £60 million.

In a profit warning issued today (February 5) ahead of end of year report to come in March, the music giant slashed its projection for the year from £207 million to £150 million, blaming "specific one-off costs", a reference toMariah Carey, as well as poor sales.

Mariah Carey
was dumped last month, one album into her five-album deal, with a £19 million kiss-off. She had signed to EMI subsidiary Virgin in April 2001 for an estimated £70 million, one of the most lucrative deals in the recording industry's history. But the writing was on the wall for the star when 'Glitter', her debut album for the label sold a poor two million worldwide as opposed to the 20 million of her 1993 record 'Music Box'.

Carey suffered a nervous breakdown in 2001 and was unable to promote the album our film of the same name in which she starred. She was admitted to psychiatric care in August suffering from "extreme exhaustion".

The news of EMI's drop, which was delivered alongside details of management restructuring, saw the company's share price drop by 11% on the London Stock Exchange this morning (February 5).