UK radio revenues at GWR Group are expected to be down by 3.9% in the quarter to 31 March. This is partly because Easter falls after March this year and so does not provide the Q4 boost experienced in 2002 (this is GWR Group’s Q4). The company says that this is in line with its expectations.
GWR expects total group revenues to be down by 1.1% year on year in the quarter. Local radio revenue is forecast to be down by 4.7% and Classic FM revenue to be down by 18.9%, both compared with a strong quarter last year.
The performance at Classic FM is very poor, but analysts at Merrill Lynch note that its figures have been consistently volatile in the year to date, adding that the overall trend is disguised by the lurches in growth and decline that come with contract wins and losses.
On the upside, GWR says that it is ‘particularly pleased’ with the ongoing strong performance by the team selling national radio revenues for the Local Radio Group, where revenues for the quarter are forecast to be up 8.7%.
Overall, Merrill describes GWR’s Q4 update as ‘relatively anodyne’, with the quarter’s small size having little overall impact on full year figures.
Earlier this week, rival group Capital Radio said that its revenues would be down by 3% over the same period and by 5% across the six months to 31 March 2003.
At Emap, revenues for the six months to 31 March were up by 3%, outperforming the market after an under-performance in the group’s first half, when revenue dropped by 7%.
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