According to press reports this morning SMG is considering a £60 million write-down of its stake in Scottish Radio Holdings in response to pressure from its auditors.
In a buoyancy market, between December 2000 and May 2001, SMG gradually increased it hold in SRH building a 29.5% stake at a cost of £147 million. Analysts now value the shareholding at around £84 million. SMG has delayed the release of its full year results for 2001 whilst approval from its creditors is agreed.
On Friday SMG announced a new agreement with bankers Clydesdale and Barclays “for the provision of sufficient funding to satisfy group requirements until June 2003”. The announcement followed a denial by SMG that the company was on the verge of being broken up for sale in order to relieve its debt burden.
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