Radio station group announces performance warning

THE owners of Radio Clyde and Radio Forth, among a grouping of Scottish radio stations, yesterday issued a warning that its annual performance was likely to be “toward the bottom end of market expectations”.

Emap, which also owns magazines such as Heat and Grazia, said trading conditions in consumer media markets would remain challenging.

Less than a fortnight ago, an estimated 20 redundancies were announced among Emap’s Scottish radio stations, as part of a culling of around 50 of its radio staff throughout the UK.

“The operating performance for consumer magazines and radio in that year, even with some initial benefits from the efficiency reviews, is likely to be below market expectations,” Emap said in a statement.

It was reported yesterday that warning came in contrast to the company’s message at its interim
results in November, when it told the City it remained on track to deliver full-year results in line with expectations.

Emap said it would next update the market with a trading statement on the 27th of next month.