The company, which is awaiting regulatory approval for its merger with Capital Radio, said that advertising revenue at its flagship station Classic FM was up by 5.3% for the period and that total revenue rose by 6.4%, boosted by the success of brand extensions such as CDs, Classic FM Magazine and Classic FM TV.
However, it said that October ad revenues for the group were down by 8.7% compared with last year and that November looked set to be down by 6.6% -- although it added that it expected some improvement in December, but for it to remain down year on year.
Reported total group revenues at GWR fell by 2% to £61.3m on the back of of discontinued overseas operations, but like-for-like analogue revenues for the period rose by 2.2% to £56.4m.
Along with Classic FM, GWR owns a network of local radio stations, including Trent FM, Essex FM and Leicester Sound. Advertising revenue for the local radio group rose by 1.6% for the period.
Ralph Bernard, chairman of GWR, said: "The underlying strength of our core local radio group stations, combined with growth at Classic FM, has increased the group's underlying profitability during the past six months, despite the difficult trading conditions in August and September."
However, he said that GWR was feeling pressure from a rise in competition in the radio ad market.
"During this period, the radio advertising market has been increasingly competitive, with consumer spending showing signs of slowing down and mounting audience pressure from BBC radio. The growth of our digital businesses continues with revenues and listening numbers up," he said.
Shares in the company fell by nearly 4% in trading early this morning, down by 9.5p to 232.5p.
GWR said that it expected the Office of Fair Trading to announce whether it will be referring the Capital Radio merger to the Competition Commission in the course of the next few weeks.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
