Chrysalis remains upbeat despite ad drop

Chrysalis Group said it was confident its radio and music businesses would outperform their sectors over the full year despite suffering a 9% drop in advertising revenues at its radio unit in the six months to the end of February.

The media company, which owns Heart, Galaxy and LBC radio stations, attributed the decline to continuing challenges in the UK radio advertising market.

However, the company says it remain upbeat on its prospects over the full year across both its radio and music businesses.

“Whilst the market remains volatile month to month, we are seeing signs of an improving trend. The second half started positively, with March (radio) revenues expected to be up at least 2%,” Chrysalis says in a trading statement.

Chrysalis forecasts first half profit in its music operation would rise 6% with the results weighted in the second half, as with previous years.

Last month Chrysalis effectively put its radio arm up for sale launching a strategic review of the business.

The company says the review is “making good progress” and that it would provide further updates to the market in “due course”.