LOVE `em or loathe `em there's no denying that maudlin musical offerings from middle-of-the-road musical artistes like Donegal song thrush Daniel O'Donnell and touchy/feely country-and-western singer Charlie Landsborough sell a lot of whatever substance compact discs are composed of. Ritz Music, the recording company which has these giants of the mass market in their repertoire of brand names, is making melodious profits from Daniel and Charlie, let alone Foster and Allen, who also strut their stuff under the Ritz banner.
The shares are traded on the speculative Ofrex over-the-counter system in London but there is talk of a more permanent listing arrangement.
Sweet music emanated from the Ritz balance sheet this week with pre-tax profits of £628,000 in the nine months to end December on turnover of £4.8 million. Full-year figures are expected to exceed the £525,000 profit projected when the company offered its shares to the public last December.
O'Donnell is Ritz's hottest property at present, with legions of Irish women on the verge of HRT scrambling to spend £1,600 to follow the singer on his current successful tour of the US. The shares, which went on the public stage at 55p, are now worth 78p. The only unharmonious note struck was the absence of any dividend for share-holders.
