MORTON Newspapers in Northern Ireland, which was acquired, last year for £11.1 million sterling by Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH), had an operating profit of £1.55 million on sales £8.64 million in the year to the end of September and made a major contribution to a 64 per cent growth in SRH's operating profits to £7.1 million.

Since that acquisition, SRH has acquired Downtown Radio and Cool FM in Northern Ireland for £9.7 million and has taken a 15 per cent stake in Radio Ireland for £500,000. Radio Ireland holds' the second national radio licence and plans to begin broadcasting in March next year.

In a comment on the Radio Ireland investment, SRH's chairman, Mr James Gordon, said: "We had applied for that licence ourselves, as had three other groups apart from the winning consortium. We believe that such a station can provide a good service and can be profitable. We have a high opinion of the creative skills of the successful group and have already formed a good working relationship with its key members."