UBC Media, the UK radio station operator and programme producer, broke into operating profit in its last financial year, the group announced this morning. Before development costs, operating profit was £73,000 for the year ended 31 March 2003, up from a loss of £210,000 the year before.
The group moved into the black during the period, with a pre-tax profit of £185,000, up from last year’s loss of £278,000. However, after development costs, overall pre-tax loss for the year was £2.1 million, an improvement on 2002’s £3.0 million. Turnover was up by 12.3% to £10.3 million.
The group has also increased its cash reserves, with £3.4 million now in the bank – up from £1.2 million as of March 2002.
Commenting on the results, Michael Peacock, chairman of UBC Media, said: “Our radio production business had a successful year, despite a difficult environment for the industry, and stands ready to benefit both from the increased commitment of BBC Radio to the independent production sector and from any advertising recovery.”
Peacock also said that he expects UBC’s digital radio assets to generate ‘substantial revenues’ as digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio becomes a mass market product.
UBC has maintained that one of the key benefits of digital radio is its ability to broadcast data to portable devices at speeds higher than other mobile technologies. To this end, it has created a dedicated division – Unique Interactive – to develop software for the delivery of content.
Outlook UBC says that airtime sales for the first two months of the year were below targets, in line with the rest of the industry, but have since shown some signs of recovery.
UBC only derives one-third of its revenues from airtime sales and the remainder of the group is trading in line with expectations. Chief executive, Simon Cole, says he remains confident over prospects for the full year.
Time Out deal UBC has signed a deal with Time Out to provide on-air information and joint marketing initiatives with the group’s Classic Gold London station. Time Out will become the primary supplier of Classic Gold London’s local entertainment news and listings information.
The deal comes at no cost to UBC, as both companies are participating in joint marketing schemes for the service.
