Radio group warns on advertising

Radio advertising in the UK is unlikely to see much growth this year, according to the media group Chrysalis.

The group runs the Heart and Galaxy radio stations, and also has interests in television, music and books.

Despite the sluggish advertising market, Chrysalis managed a return to profit.

It made a profit of £0.6m in the six months to the end of February, compared with a loss of £5.5m for the same period last year.

Chief executive Richard Huntingford said: "Market conditions, particularly in the advertising businesses... were some of the most challenging our industry has faced in the last decade."

The chairman, Chris Wright, warned that it would be premature to predict that UK advertising as a whole would return to growth.

And Chrysalis said it was assuming that radio advertising in Britain would remain flat.