LRC plans to go private
THE radio group that owns the Burnley station 2BR is seeking shareholder support to leave the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
The Local Radio Company said today that it would be “more beneficial” for the company and its shareholders to delist.
The business is being restructured and the board said the move would save AIM-related costs. Shareholders will vote on the proposal at an extraordinary meeting next month.
The Buckinghamshire-based group has struggled through a challenging year in which advertising revenues have fallen and it has lost listeners to BBC stations.
It also endured a protracted takeover battle which saw Cornwall-based UKRD successfully fight Hallwood Financial for control of the business.
Today the group said it continued to trade in a depressed advertising market and both local and nationally generated revenues continue to show year-on-year decline.
Like-for-like revenue for the six months to March 31 from continuing operations was down by 7.2% to £7m
LRC, which has around 20 stations, sold Macclesfield’s Silk FM to Chester radio station Dee 106.3 in June.
Last year the group sold seven stations including Southport’s Dune FM and in January it pulled its support from Barrow-in-Furness’s Abbey FM which has since closed. Its remaining North West station is Burnley’s 2BR.
