Investors fear the departure of Geri Halliwell could signal the break-up of the Spice Girls, who are one of the company's biggest earners.

On Monday, EMI shares lost 3.1% on the London Stock Exchange, losing 10p and closing at 508.

At lunchtime, the share price had gone down even further, to 506, which cut the company's value on the market by nearly £100m ($164m). Rarely has a quarrel in a pop band been so expensive.

Five minus one: Will it still sell?

Girl selling power

The Spice Girls were by far EMI's biggest selling acts. In the year to March 31, fans bought 21m albums worldwide. In comparison the company's second biggest act, Garth Brooks, sold 6 million copies of his album Seven.

EMI shares have had a rough time on the market recently. Expectations that the company could be a takeover target saw the shares jump from 465p on April 20 to 607p on May 1.

But after merger talks with Seagram came to nothing and the Canadian group decided to buy Polygram instead, share prices went down again.

Alex de Groote, analyst at stockbroker Albert E Sharp, said: "If you take the view that the Spice Girls are the best selling artists on their roster, then it is not helping sentiment."

If he is right, than the departure of Ginger Spice will be another hefty blow to EMI. With its share price low the group is more than ever before a prime takeover target.

However, some analysts discount the impact Geri's departure will have. They say the stock's decline is due primarily to the overall market's softer profile as well as a continued technical weakness since EMI ended its discussions with Seagram.

And what some fans see as a tragedy could turn out to be a business opportunity. "They can get lots of publicity about who's going to be the next Spice Girl," said Jason Crisp, media analyst with Societé Generale. "I think they can turn this into an opportunity."

Buy Ginger

First indications are that sales are already going up.

The video of the film SpiceWorld has just gone on sale, and as each pack features a different Spice Girl the fans have made their choice. Videos featuring Geri Halliwell on the cover are twice as popular as any of the others.

"The second best-selling cover features Baby Spice Emma," reported a spokesman for London's HMV record shop.

Already the video is outperforming industry expectations.