HMV Media yesterday said it remained committed to the group's ailing book retail chain Waterstone's despite reporting another slide in sales at the business.

Alan Giles, HMV chief executive, described several bids for the book retailer over the summer as unsolicited and suggested he would stand firm in the face of an anticipated offer from the chain's founder Tim Waterstone. Mr Waterstone has beencritical of HMV Media's stewardship of the business and has secured financial backing from PPM Ventures to make an offer.

"Our view is that although the recent performance has been disappointing, Waterstone's is fundamentally a very good business in a good market," Mr Giles said. "We did receive some unsolicited offers but we are very committed to keeping it within the HMV Media Group."

Waterstone's suffered a 3.8% decline in sales during the three months to the end of July which the company blamed on a fall in sales to schools.

Insiders said Mr Waterstone's putative bid was not helped by the continued drop in sales at the book chain which made it difficult to shape an offer. The companies which made an approach to HMV earlier this year included Germany's Bertelsmann and Barnes & Noble of the US.

The flotation of HMV Media has been put on ice for the "foreseeable future" although Mr Giles said the performance of Waterstone's was not the prime reason. "There is little or no appetite from equity investors to support flotations in the retail sector so the performance of Waterstone's is academic," he said.

"The froth has gone from many of the internet plays which had been a perceived threat to retailers and damaged the sector. But the two seem to have become disconnected because there hasn't been a re-rating of the retailers."

Mr Giles denied coming under pressure from shareholders EMI and US venture capital fund Advent International to dispose of Waterstone's.