The commercial radio station, Today FM, produced profits of almost £1.2 million (€1.52 million) in the year to September 30th and a further profits rise is likely in the current year.
Confirmation of the impressive turnaround at Today FM is included in the full-year results from British media group Scottish Radio Holdings which owns 22 per cent of the Irish radio station. SRH said it included £200,000 sterling (€332,502) in respect of its 22 per cent stake and this extrapolates to profits of £900,000 sterling or £1.2 million for the entire group.
"Today FM has done very well, its audience share is up and advertising tends to follow market share," said SRH chief executive Mr Richard Findlay. "It has the capability to grow and we would be very supportive of their growth plans, it should comfortably exceed its most recent profit figure in the coming year," said Mr Findlay.
He would not be drawn on whether SRH planned to raise its 22 per cent stake in Today FM. "We are in partnership with other shareholders and we have already increased our shareholding from 15 per cent to 22 per cent," he said.
But industry sources believe SRH's ultimate aim is to increase its stake in Today FM and that is likely to occur either through a new share issue at some stage to fund the station's growth or by buying out some other shareholders.
These include Riverdance founders Mr John McColgan and Ms Moya Doherty, concert promoter Mr Denis Desmond and institutional investors such as ICC Venture Capital, which has a 23 per cent stake.
Mr Findlay also stated that SRH planned a January relaunch of Ireland on Sunday, the Sunday newspaper it acquired in mid-year for almost £8 million. SRH included losses of £200,000 sterling on sales of £300,000 sterling for Ireland on Sunday in respect of about two months to the end of September, and the newspaper is still losing money despite impressive circulation growth. "We're working on a relaunch with the management and staff and carrying out market research to see what readers think of the layout and content and the changes they would like to see. Once we've got the results of the research, we'll get down to the detail of the relaunch.
"Ireland on Sunday is a very good paper with a good middle-market tabloid niche in the Irish market. We will give it every support just as we have given Today FM support and we wouldn't have bought it if we didn't believe it could be made profitable," Mr Findlay said.
He declined to speculate, however, on how soon Ireland on Sunday would turn the corner to profitability. "We're a plc, we can't speculate like that."
One of SRH's biggest acquisitions last year was the £28 million acquisition of the Kilkenny People Group, an acquisition that has moved SRH into the number two position in the Irish regional newspaper market after Independent News & Media. The Kilkenny People generated operating profits of £500,000 sterling (£660,000) for SRH on sales of £1.8 million sterling (£2.4 million) in the three months from July to September.
Mr Findlay said SRH was keen to add to its existing four regional titles: the Kilkenny People, Tipperary Star, Nationalist & Munster Advertiser and Leitrim Observer. But he declined to say whether SRH had made any bids for other titles or approached other titles about an acquisition.
"We like regional newspapers and we'd like to increase our presence in the Republic. It's a very good market and we're very comfortable there," said Mr Findlay. He gave a strong hint, however, that further acquisitions were unlikely to be as expensive as the Kilkenny People, whose £28 million price tag last June caused some surprise. "There was a degree of strategic acquisition in the price we paid for Kilkenny People," he said.
Apart from its interests in the Republic, SRH has extensive radio and regional newspaper interests in Northern Ireland, including Downtown Radio and the Morton newspaper group. The possibilities are limited for further expansion in Northern Ireland and this explains SRH's recent activity in the Republic.
In the year to the end of September, SRH increased its pre-tax profits to £20 million sterling with turnover up 30 per cent to £71.7 million sterling. After a placing earlier this year, SRH's has £25 million sterling in cash, leaving it in a strong position for acquisitions.
