Chris Wright, chairman of Chrysalis Group, told the company's AGM this morning that Chrysalis's radio division has continued to enjoy robust trading since preliminary results in November.
Wright said: "Given this exceptional revenue performance, we intend strengthening our marketing activity, particularly in London, where high-profile changes at a number of other stations provide our Heart and LBC brands with significant opportunities for growth."
Revenues at its radio stations increased by 12.4% to £52.5m in November last year, beating the industry average of around 2%. Heart 106.2 briefly took over from rival Capital 95.8, now rebranded as 95.8 Capital FM, as the most listened to commercial station in London last year, a position held by Capital for 30 years.
There was further good news for Chrysalis's music division, with the success of group OutKast. The group, who are signed to Chrysalis's music publishing company, sold more than 2.5m copies of their 'Speakerboxxxx/Love Below' album in the US.
The group's publishing division held the Christmas number one position in the singles charts on both sides of the Atlantic, with OutKast's 'Hey Ya' in the US and Gary Jules' cover of Tears for Fears' 'Mad World' in the UK.
"The financial impact of these successes will be seen over a two-year period as we collect royalty payments from overseas territories," Wright added.
Capital Radio's trading statement for the October-December quarter showed that revenues increased 5% against the same period the previous year, which the company said was in line with expectations. The group has attained particularly strong revenue growth from alternative dance and guitar-led station Xfm and the Century FM Network.
In the latest set of Rajar figures, Capital has managed to recapture the lead over Heart with 2.3m listeners, compared with Heart's 1.95m.
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