PPL predicts merger will open floodgates; collection society benefits from merger and investment.(Royalties)

PPL is predicting that annual international income of less than 3m [pounds sterling] will quickly top double figures thanks to its approved merger with Aura and Pamra.

Figures for 2005 announced by the society last week revealed that, of 86.5m [pounds sterling] licence fee income collected for the year, just 2.9m [pounds sterling] came from overseas. Although this is a 38% increase on the 2.1m [pounds sterling] collected for the previous year, chairman and CEO Fran Nevrkla concedes it is a "trickle" compared to the 40m [pounds sterling] to 60m [pounds sterling] he believes the UK should be receiving annually from outside the UK.

"Frankly, it's not an enormous sum of money, but that will only change dramatically once we finally have the whole operation under one roof," says Nevrkla. "At the moment it is no more than an annual trickle, but five years ago it wasn't even a trickle and the tap needs to be turned full on and then we'll see enormous sums of money coming through."

Nevrkla suggests that, while overseas societies have previously used the excuse of holding back payments because of the complication of there being more than one UK organisation to deal with, the merger means they will now have to "put up and shut up--or else".

For future international income, he predicts, "I would be very disappointed if it wasn't into double figures and there wasn't a serious nought at the end of it. There will still be some pain and I'm not sure with one or two territories it will be that smooth without litigation."

The ongoing difficulties of international collection aside, 2005 produced another set of record annual figures for PPL with the 86.5m [pounds sterling] income up 4.7% on the previous year. The bulk of this typically came from broadcast, whose income rose 3.1% year-on-year to contribute 50.0m [pounds sterling] to the coffers, while public performance income lifted 4.6% to 33.6m. [pounds sterling] Distributable revenue grew 5.4% to 75.5m [pounds sterling].

The rise in broadcast income came despite a tough 2005 for the commercial radio sector, a situation partly offset by a strong performance ...