Media group Chrysalis this morning announced its interim results for the six months ended 28 February 2006.
Whilst the general group figures showed a fall in numbers at 2.1 million pounds, down from 3.9 million pounds in the same period a year-ago, revenues from the radio unit rose 1.5 percent to 33.1 million pounds due to the acquisition of 106 Century FM. But on a like-for-like basis, radio revenues fell 4.6 percent, reflecting the downturn in the UK radio advertising sector. The company said its outlook was more positive in the second half, with radio revenues expected to be up 10 percent for the quarter ending in May.
For the Heart and Galaxy Network:
The performance of the Heart Network was boosted by Heart 106.2’s position as
London’s most listened to commercial station in the Q3 and Q4 2005 Rajar
surveys. As a result, revenues at the London flagship station increased by 3% in
the period in spite of the difficult market conditions. The integration of Heart
106 in the East Midlands, acquired in May 2005 (as Century 106), has been very
successful. The station was relaunched under the Heart brand at the end of
August at a one off cost of ?0.5m, which is fully reflected within these results
and the station is currently performing in line with our acquisition model.
Encouragingly, the latest Q1 2006 Rajar survey showed a strong performance by
Heart 106 in its first full survey since the rebrand, with total hours
increasing by 12.3% in the quarter. In the increasingly competitive West
Midlands market, 100.7 Heart fm, increased its hours to 7.9m, giving it a 10%
share of the overall radio market. Over the course of the past 12 months, 100.7
Heart fm, has refreshed its daytime line-up with a number of new presenters and
the station also benefited from TV and outdoor marketing in the period. Overall
Heart remains the UK’s No 1 commercial ILR brand.
Lower revenues for our Galaxy network of stations reflect slightly weaker
audiences year-on-year, down 6%, and the poor trading conditions experienced
throughout broadcast advertising in the period. Importantly, however, Galaxy
remains the UK’s No 1 commercial young adult station with almost 2.5 million
listeners.
And the report shows LBC doing well:
LBC saw revenues increase by almost 10% in the first half of the financial year.
This improvement has been driven by better volumes, pricing and an increase in S
&P (sponsorship and promotion) activity. Along with the ongoing tight management
of overheads, losses in the first half have been substantially reduced and the
stations are expected to reach a cashflow breakeven position in this financial
year.
The latest Q1 2006 Rajar figures show the success of the new daytime line-up for
97.3fm which was put in place during the autumn. Overall the station saw a 25%
quarterly uplift in listening hours, driven in the main by new signings Iain Lee
at drivetime and Anna Raeburn’s lunchtime show. Nick Ferrari’s breakfast show
continues to perform strongly, with quarterly average half hourly audiences
increasing by 15% in the latest Rajar survey. In addition, he won the
prestigious Gold Sony Award for ‘Best Breakfast Show’ earlier in the month. LBC
also claimed a Gold Award at the Sony radio awards for its first-time coverage
of the University Boat Race in April last year.
Read the report in full by clicking here.