Austereo says it is on target to report increased growth to shareholders despite a very small decline in the first half.

Profit came in nearly flat at $26.85 million for the first two quarters of the financial year, less than one third of a percent lower than the same period last year.

In a release to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, the company also is reporting a healthy four percent growth in earnings before interest and taxation to $45.05 million, despite an industry-wide downturn in the all-important Sydney market.

Exectuive Chairman Peter Harvie says audience gains are behind the 2.8 per cent increase in sale revenue to $127.5 million. It’s the highest sales market share since 2004.

Harvie described the Sydney market as a “basketcase”, down five percent. All other captial city markets are in positive territory, but the influence of Sydney left the overall figure flat.

Earnings before interest and tax was up 4.3 per cent to $43.1 million, with net profit up 2.8 per cent to $26.8 million. The interim dividend was up 5.6 per cent to 3.8 cents per share fully franked.

Harvie says TSL has increased due to the strong talent line-up and says Austereo stations are attracting the largest commercial share in Australia with 4.3million listeners across the nation.

But he was also upbeat about the increased online hits on the various Austereo websites. The strong message was that the future is digital, with both broadcasting and online and the digital strategy being enhanced by the Fairfax agreement.

In January this year Austereo was listed ninth in the Australian Entertainment category for unique browsers. He cited Hamish and Andy, hosts of the nationally syndicated drive time show on the Today Network, as attracting 800,000 hits in one month to their site. He says a percentage of ad revenue was from online, but that this figure was not separated out at this stage. He says the organisation was entering a growth phase for its websites, with TripleM sites to be relaunched later this year.

While the organisation was keeping a close eye on cross media opportunities, the sharp focus was on growing Austereo brands, managing costs and developing expanding online capabilities.

The company reported that its offshore activities were stable, with Athens a leading international station. Harvie says the Greek economy is up after the post-Olympic phase, and he expects further upward trends. However, the main concentration of focus will be on Australian markets.