LBC owner loses £140m despite revenue marching towards £1bn
Global, the media giant behind the likes of radio stations LBC, Capital and Heart, lost £140m during its latest financial year despite its revenue continuing its march towards £1bn.
The London-headquartered business, which also includes Smooth, Radio X and Classic FM, has reported its latest pre-tax loss after also losing £120.3m in the prior 12 months.
The latest figure means that the group has lost in the region of £820m before tax since it last made a pre-tax profit – £25.1m in the year to 31 March, 2018.
But despite the increases losses, the LBC owner’s revenue rose in the year from £858.1m to £898m, according to new accounts filed with Companies House.
In the year, Global’s audio revenue dipped from £432.2m to £430.9m but its outdoor advertising sales rose from £425.9m to £467m.
In the UK, its revenue went from £699.2m to £728.5m but fell from £44m to £39.5m in North America.
The LBC owner’s revenue in Europe grew from £114.8m to £129.9m over the same period.
Global was founded by Ashley Tabor-King in 2007.
Wealth of LBC owner’s star presenter surges
In a statement signed off by the board, the LBC owner said: “The group is well positioned for further growth within both our key operations of audio and outdoor, with continued strong commercial and operating performance and ongoing investment.”
The results for Global come after CityAM reported in December that TV and radio presenter Jordan North had become a millionaire after taking over as host of Capital’s breakfast show.
North succeeded Roman Kemp as host in April 2024 alongside Siân Welby and Chris Stark.
The former I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here runner-up had previously been a DJ at Radio One.
Accounts filed for Jordan North’s business, Vicious Vera Productions, revealed how much he has profited from the move as well as his other work.