Chrysalis eyes up acquisitions as profits jump to £9m

Claire Billings,

May 06, 2003

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Chrysalis eyes up acquisitions as profits jump to £9m

LONDON - Media group Chrysalis Group, which owns the Heart and LBC radio stations, is considering hitting the acquisition trail as first-half pre-tax profits rose to £9m from £0.6m last time, following the sale of one of its Galaxy stations last year.

Chrysalis's first-half pre-tax profits were boosted by the £12.5m sale in September of Galaxy 101 in Bristol to Vibe FM, as group turnover rose 10.3% to £125.5m.

Chief executive Richard Huntingford confirmed that the company is in talks to sell its TV arm, which if as expected goes through in June would allow it take advantage of acquisition opportunities that may arise in the industry.

He said: "[The sale of the TV business] would leave us pretty much ungeared and we would, therefore, be in a strong position to look for any acquisition opportunities out there."

Chrysalis saw first-half radio revenues climb 19.8% to £27.2m against £22.7m last time, while airtime sales revenues rose 19.9% to £26.5m from £22.1m. These figures included revenues from LBC, which it bought in September for £23.5m.

Chrysalis chairman Chris Wright said: "These results underscore my belief that the Chrysalis Group is in a strong position to capitalise on opportunities that may arise as we enter this exciting new phase of industry development brought about by the forthcoming Communications Act."

Huntingford added that the company had outperformed the rest of the industry in terms of revenue. A statement from Chrysalis claimed that radio industry revenues for the corresponding period were up 2%.

Huntingford said: "This is a strong set of results. I am particularly pleased with the industry outperformance that we have again delivered in our radio and music divisions, with our management teams showing that they can deliver strong organic growth in spite of difficult trading conditions."

The company said radio revenues for the third quarter looked strong, with revenues for March and April up 9.5% against a forecast flat industry performance.

Revenues at its TV division more than doubled to £2.8m, from £1.2m. Former Granada chief executive Steve Morrison is leading a bid for the production division, along with former ITV director of programmes David Liddiment.

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