After a temporary lift in the fortunes of the radio industry, two of the key commercial players are warning investors of another dip in revenues.
Capital Radio yesterday told the City: "We anticipate revenues for the quarter to September 2003 will be broadly flat in line with expectations. In the quarter to June 2003 revenues were down 6% against the same quarter in the previous year. Consequently, revenue for the six months ending 30 September 2003 will be down 3% against the same period in the prior year." Interpreting this news Capital boss David Mansfield. told investors: "With the recent optimism in the media marketplace we have seen some limited signs of improvement. However, we remain cautious and believe that it is too early to tell when the UK advertising sector will recover."
Likewise GWR yesterday announced that advertising revenues for Classic FM have dipped by more than 10% year in the past six months. However chairman Ralph Bernard remained optimistic that the industry is slowly climbing out of the recent advertising slump: " Advertising revenues at Classic FM have continued to be volatile over the last six months, but recent short-term performance has been more encouraging. We are beginning to see improved short-term visibility of revenues. The group's trading outlook remains unchanged and the board is confident of delivering a satisfactory result for the year."