This article is from page 2 of the 2007-11-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE chief executive of Clare FM last night moved to dampen local speculation that the station is being sold to Radio Kerry for a reported €7-8 million.
It is understood that the board of Clare FM has agreed in principle to the sale to Radio Kerry and it is ex- pected that the sale will be finalised in the New Year.
The proposed sale will result in minor windfalls for the hundreds of small shareholders across Clare who invested in the station 15 years ago as a result of a share drive.
However, Liam O’Shea yesterday dismissed reports of a sale to Radio
Kerry as “pure speculation”, adding that he found the query on the matter “very surprising’.
He added, “Given the industry we are in, and our size, our future strat- egy must always be open. However, this year is no different to any other year.
“IT am always getting enquiries in relation to selling and, in fact, I have also made one or two inquiries my- self in relation to acquiring another radio station. There will always be speculation in this industry.”
In a second email yesterday, Mr O’Shea said, “I can categorically state that Clare FM has not been sold to anybody. ”
Radio Kerry yesterday failed to re-
spond to a query on the reported sale. The move comes against the back- eround of growing profits and listen- ership for Clare FM, which scooped a recent national news award.
The annual returns for 2006 show that the company increased its an- nual profit before tax to €240,000 on a turnover of €1.9 million, making it an attractive target for a takeover. The profit achieved last year results in accumulated profits of €694,000, while its most recent JNLR radio survey showed a four per cent in- crease in market share.
Mr O’Shea said, “I am broadly sat- isfied we have maintained our profit- ability… We are pleased with the fig- ures, as we Set out 12 months ago to
increase our weekday market share. We have seen a healthy four per cent increase on this figure over this pe- riod. Our weekend figures have also increased.”
Asked to comment yesterday on the reported sale, the founding chief ex- ecutive of Clare FM, Caimin Jones, said, “If the story is true, it is to be welcomed for two reasons, the first being Clare FM and Radio Kerry have similar broadcasting objectives in having a strong connection to the community and a strong cultural identity with the community.”
Mr Jones said, “I would also wel- come the sale in that it will give a re- turn to the many people who invested in the station in 1992.”