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Chrysalis, which also owns easy listening station Heart in London and the Galaxy radio network across the UK, said in a statement today the outcome was "particularly pleasing in the light of the difficult trading environment our industry continues to face".

Excluding the acquisition of LBC and disposal of Galaxy 101 in September 2002, revenues at Chrysalis's original Heart and Galaxy networks increased by 18.8% in the same period.

Chrysalis, which also has TV, music and publishing interests, said trading across the company remained in line with its expectations. Last week, Chrysalis said it was looking to exploit the format of its LBC network when it bids for a new regional FM licence in the West Midlands.

The new station would be known as WBC and provide a rival to BBC Radio WM, which also broadcasts in the region.

In a statement, Chrysalis Group chairman Chris Wright said: "This strong revenue performance of Chrysalis Radio is particularly pleasing in

the light of the difficult trading environment our industry continues to face."

"Our outperformance under these conditions demonstrates not only the ability of the group to continue delivering market share gains, but also our ability to convert this audience growth into revenue growth. Chrysalis Radio's significant position in the London market, coupled with strong positions in other local markets, is increasingly attractive to advertisers in offering them both broad geographic and demographic exposure and should ensure our ongoing industry outperformance," he said.

Chrysalis's latest quarterly audience figures released last week showed further audience growth for the group, with total hours up 3.4% over the past three months. Its eight stations now attract 5.7m listeners, giving it a 10.4% share of all commercial radio listening.

Chrysalis acquired LBC from GWR last September in a deal worth £23.5m that also included News Direct. It has since relaunched the station, with LBC 97.3FM featuring 100% speech, news and entertainment and a rolling news service on LBC News 1152AM.

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