* 16 weeks to April 25 like-for-like sales flat
* HMV UK/Ireland like-for-like sales up 4.3 percent
* Waterstone's like-for-like sales down 4.5 percent
* Announces concession deal with Orange
* Shares down 1.3 percent
(Adds detail, CEO, analyst comments, updates shares)
By James Davey
LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - British music and books retailer HMV Group forecast full-year profit at the top end of market hopes, boosted by market share gains following the demise of Woolworths and Zavvi.
The 88-year-old firm also announced on Wednesday a concession partnership with France Telecom's Orange to offer mobile phones and services, and a deal with Curzon Cinemas to trial digital cinemas.
These developments, along with a plan to enter the live music market announced in January, continue to reposition the HMV brand away from its traditional music base into a broad entertainment retailer.
"Our vision is getting customers closer to the content that they love," chief executive Simon Fox told reporters.
He said group profit before tax and exceptional items for the year to April 25 would be towards the upper end of market expectations.
Prior to Wednesday's update these were pitched at between 50.3 million pounds and 63.7 million ($74 million-$94 million). In 2007-08, HMV made 56.6 million pounds.
Shares in HMV have increased in value by 18 percent over the past year, outperforming the UK's general retail index by 31 percent.
The stock was down 2 pence at 148 pence at 0923 GMT, valuing the business at 632 million pounds.
HMV, which runs music, DVD and video games shops under its own name as well as Waterstone's bookstores, said underlying sales in the 16 weeks to April 25 were flat year-on-year, ahead of analyst forecasts for a fall of about 1.5 percent.
Sales at HMV UK and Ireland shops open at least a year were up 4.3 percent, reflecting "double-digit" volume growth in music and DVDs, as well as continued growth in video gaming despite a softening of this market since Christmas.
"We're working hard to take advantage of the opportunities arising from the changes to our competitive landscape that have taken place since Christmas," said Fox.
The group, which has acquired 23 former Zavvi stores, is in the midst of a three-year turnaround plan aimed at meeting the challenge of competition from Internet retailers and supermarkets, as well as the rise of music and film downloads.
Amid a downturn in consumer spending, rivals Woolworths and Zavvi failed to cope, with both groups entering administration late last year.
Woolworths and Zavvi had accounted for 20 percent of UK CD sales and 15 percent of DVD sales.
Waterstone's like-for-like sales fell 4.5 percent over the 16 week period, reflecting an overall book market down about 4 percent, but maintained market share over the year.
"HMV will continue to benefit from reduced high street competition through to the all-important Christmas period ... Thereafter, focus will return to the structural challenges of selling entertainment products on the high street: there is a reason why there is only 'one man standing' in that arena," said David Stoddart, analyst at Altium Securities.
HMV forecast year end net debt of about 10 million pounds.
Fox said the release schedule looked good with "Slumdog Millionaire" in DVDs in June and a new novel from Dan Brown in books in September. (Editing by Karen Foster and David Cowell) ($1 = 0.6796 pound)