Limerick’s Live 95FM profits fall 40% to €1m
Returns to the Companies Registration Office show that Treaty Radio Ltd also sustained a 24.5% drop in revenues from €4.1m to €3.1m to the end of December last.
However, in spite of the drop in turnover and profits, the company’s directors state that they believe the company “outperformed the market, given the extremely difficult trading conditions”.
The directors state: “With operating costs reduced by 8% on a like-for-like basis, the division delivered an acceptable operating profit of €1.1m compared to €1.8m in 2008.”
The station broadcasts to Limerick city and county and is one of the most popular stations in the county.
The station was purchased by UTV for €16 million in 2002 and is one of a number of Irish radio stations that UTV owns, others include Dublin’s Q102, Cork’s 103FM and FM104.
The directors’ report states Limerick’s Live 95FM “consolidated its market leading position with a market share of 35% of listeners in its broadcast area in 2009”.
Spin FM and 4FM have been recent entrants to the commercial radio market in Limerick and directors state: “New national and local broadcasting licences have been issued by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) recently, which creates further competition in our franchise area.
“This may well impact on future revenue growth in the short term, but may benefit the radio industry as a whole in the long term.”
The figures show that the company’s operating profit decreased by 39.5% last year from €1.79m to €1m.
The accounts show that Treaty Radio Ltd’s cost of sales decreased from €513,438 to €331,552, with the company’s administrative expenses dropping from €1.87m to €1.73m.
The accounts show that the company at the end of 2009 had shareholders’ funds of €7.7m, including accumulated profits of some €7.49m.
Staff costs fell from €1.3m to €1.275m with numbers employed decreasing by seven from 46 to 39.
They are made up of 16 in programming, nine in news, seven in sales and promotion, six in administration and one in accounts.
Directors’ fees, emoluments, including pension contributions, dipped slightly to €195,675.
In 2007, Live 95FM fought off a bid by a new Limerick consortium to acquire the BCI licence for the Limerick area until 2017.
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