Wireless Group Denies Claims That It Is Up For Sale

The Wireless Group has today denied press speculation that the company is to be sold due to funding difficulties. A spokesman dismissed the claims made in an article published in a national broadsheet as “speculation” adding, “The Wireless Group is not for sale and is doing well, as recent figures show.”

The article in question stated that the Wireless group is burning £1m of cash a month and only has enough reserves for another six months of operations. Interim results for the first quarter of this year confirmed that the group’s losses increased to £34 million. However, the company showed Q1 turnover growth of 22%, which, it pointed out, significantly outstrips the IPA’s overall market growth figure of 2.4% (see Wireless Group Grows Turnover And Reduces Costs). The group’s national Talksport station saw turnover up 41%, whilst local stations’ turnover increased by 12%.

Speculation over the future of Wireless follows fluctuating share prices and increased fears that the business is caught in an industry-wide downturn. With commercial radio’s overall share decreasing over the last year the group saw a decline at 9 of its 17 stations and despite gains, TalkSPORT continued to struggle against its BBC competitor 5 Live (see Rajar Figures Show Another Tough Quarter For Commercial Stations).

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