UTV’s Irish radio arm ‘outperforms’ market despite 6% fall in revenue

UTV Media has said that its Irish radio division has “significantly” outperform- ed the market so far this year, despite revenues showing a 6% annualised decline.

The Belfast-based media group’s Radio Ireland unit — which includes the likes of Cork stations C103 and 96FM, Limerick’s Live95 FM, and Dublin stations Q102 and FM104 — posted revenues of £17m (€21.1m) for the first 10 months of 2012, down by 6% on a reported basis on the same period last year.

However, when measured on a local currency basis, UTV — which published its latest trading update yesterday — said that the division maintained its revenue levels during the period, “significantly outperforming the Irish radio market which is estimated to have declined by 8% over the same period”.

The group added that — in euro currency terms — the Radio Ireland business is likely to show revenue declines of 5% for the last two months of this year, leading to a full-year revenue drop of 1%, in local currency terms.

On a group-wide basis, the first 10 months of the year saw total revenue remain unchanged, year-on-year, at £99.5m.

This was below market expectations, which had factored in growth of around 1.6% for the period.

On a divisional basis, in sterling terms, UTV’s television unit was the only other area of the group to see a sales decline, falling by 7% to £26.5m.

Radio GB, meanwhile, saw revenues rise by 5% to £46m and the group’s new media arm boosted sales by 5% to £10m.

“In Ireland, where we continue to outperform the radio advertising market, challenging conditions persist for both television and radio in the fourth quarter, with further revenue declines anticipated,” management said as part of yesterday’s statement.

However, it added that while it remains cautious about prospects for revenue growth across all of its key business divisions, “tight control over costs” and a cash generative position coupled with low borrowings make UTV “well-positioned” to take advantage of growth opportunities.