Profits at the multimedia company set up by the Beatles slipped last year as the business counted the cost of film projects and a restructuring.
Apple Corps, set up in 1963 as The Beatles Limited, said profits in the year to January were £3.9 million, compared with £5.1 million for the previous 12 months.
Sales grew from £26.7 million to £31.8 million and the business, which exploits audio, visual and other activities related to the band, paid £850,000 each in dividends to the shareholders. They are Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Ringo Starr and Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison.
The Fab Four formed Apple Corps three years before the band split
ALAMY
Fees of £4.3 million each were payable to shareholders and their related companies in connection with the provision of promotional services and the use of their name and likeness rights.
Compensation of £3.5 million was also paid for “key management personnel”, company accounts show.
The company’s five directors include Olivia Harrison, Yoko Ono and her son Sean Lennon. The business owes close to £9.4 million to the shareholders and their companies.
Apple Corps was officially formed in 1967, three years before the Beatles split, amid discussions about their tax affairs.
Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon are both Apple Corps directors
JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/AP
On the founding of Apple, John Lennon was quoted as saying: “Our accountant came up and said, ‘We got this amount of money. Do you want to give it to the government or do something with it?’ So we decided to play businessmen for a bit, because we’ve got to run our own affairs now. So we’ve got this thing called ‘Apple’ which is going to be records, films and electronics, which all tie up.”
At first the company was involved in a wide range of activities including music publishing, record production, films, electronics and retail. At one point, Apple Corps had a short-lived retail outlet in London on the corner of Baker Street and Paddington Street.
Today it serves as custodian of the Beatles’ legacy, supervising the re-release of the band’s music and films, as well as sales of related merchandise.
Sam Mendes is leading the creation of four Beatles films, scheduled for 2028, which will portray each member of the band, with Paul Mescal playing McCartney, Harris Dickinson playing Lennon, Barry Keoghan playing Starr and Joseph Quinn as Harrison.
Four Sam Mendes films about the Beatles will star, left to right, Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan and Harris Dickinson
VALERIE MACON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Next year will see the release of Man on the Run, a documentary about McCartney’s life after the Beatles and his formation of the group Wings.
⬤ The unlikely revival of HMV continues as the 104-year-old retailer taps into demand for vinyl, CDs and cassette tapes in the age of streaming media. Six years after a rescue takeover by the Canadian entrepreneur Doug Putnam, the chain is adding three more stores to its 100-strong footprint across the UK and Europe, with new openings in Peterborough, Cork and the Hague in time for the Christmas shopping season.