GWR saw pre-tax profits double to £17.1 million for the year, as advertising revenues grew by 8.4% to £125.6 million outperforming the radio industry increase of 7.8%.
National radio revenue, accounting for 51% of GWR’s total revenue, rose by 8.7%, while local radio revenue grew by 7.9%. This is largely thanks to GWR’s implementation of new inventory control systems and new airtime pricing systems.
Classic FM, contributing 21.9% of Group revenue, has now overtaken Kiss FM and Magic to reach the third largest commercial audience in London.
GWR’s digital radio businesses grew revenue by 24.1% to £8.1 million. Acceleration in the development of digital radio saw the number of digital receivers reaching 500,000. The Digial Radio Development Bureau forecasts sales to reach 1 million by December 2004.
Commenting on the results, executive chairman, Ralph Bernard said: “We look forward to the future with confidence, as the strength of our brands in analogue radio is matched by our leading position in digital radio. We have continued to focus attention on digital radio with some 20% of our operating profits being invested in exploiting our prime assets in this critical area.”
Looking forward, Wendy Pallot, GWR’s finance director, said the Group’s advertising revenue would see a single digit rise in June, somewhere between the 2.5% increase in May and the 10.5% seen in April.
The GWR Board expects the Group to show continued improvement in its revenue and profit performance over the coming year.
Last week, Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) announced Group revenue for the first half of the year jumped by 10% (see French TV Listings Holding Back Emap Despite Profits Rising).
Yesterday, Emap recorded radio revenue growth of 6%, largely due to revenues from digital radio (see Strong Radio And Press Revenue Spur On Profits At SRH).
Related Links
