Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) today reported pre-tax profits for the six months to March 31st of £7.8 million sterling, down 5 per cent from the £8.2 million recorded last year.
SRH has substantial holdings in the Irish media market including; Ireland on Sunday, the Kilkenny Peoplegroup and 24 per cent of Today FM.
The group said the last few months have been challenging for the whole British and Irish media sector, but it still expects to report satisfactory results for the year as a whole.
In its results statement, SRH described Today FM as a "strong success story" in Ireland. According to the most recent JNLR survey Today FM now attracts 880,000 listeners each week, an increase of 8 per cent on the same period last year.
Today FM achieved turnover exceeding of £6m for the year to February 28th 2001, up by more than 40 per cent on the previous year.
Advertising revenues for March have shown further strong growth of 12 per cent and advertising revenues generally in Ireland remain buoyant, the company said.
The Kilkenny titles acquired last year generated operating profits of £1 million.