Acquisitions Will Help Boost SRH Revenues
Scottish Radio Holdings this morning said that radio advertising levels will have fallen 4% year on year for the six months to 31 March, due to recent weaknesses in national ad revenue. However, it says that thanks mainly to acquisitions last year, group revenue will rise by 19% to £40 million.
Excluding acquisitions there is only a 2% rise. SRH says that whilst radio’s national advertising revenue fell by 9% in the half year, local revenue – which accounts for 50% of the division’s ad revenue – will have increased by 2% compared with the previous half.
“The balance between local and national advertising revenue streams confirms the board’s view that there is considerable economic merit in its long-established policy of cultivating local advertising revenues,” says the trading statement.
The group’s Score Press division, which publishes 42 weekly newspapers, will see total revenues grow by 60%, driven primarily by the acquisitions of Kilkenny People Holdings and Ireland on Sunday last summer. Like for like ad revenues at Score will be up by 2%, with stronger growth in the Republic of Ireland than in the UK.
SRH’s outdoor advertising business – Score Outdoor – will show revenue growth of 8%. It has secured a number of new corporate contracts which have enhanced the longer-term profit potential of the business, says SRH.
Scottish Radio’s outlook is fairly positive. It says that all its businesses are in strong positions, adding that whilst it remains cautious about current trends in the UK advertising market, the longer-term prospects for advertising – on radio in particular – remain good.
Investors did not react positively to the statement, with shares down 12˝p at 1,352˝p by mid-morning today.
Scottish Radio Holdings: 0141 306 2242
