The results are a further boost to the station, after listenership figures released last week revealed that its Last Word evening programme had overtaken RTE Radio 1's Drivetime for the first time.

The station's chief executive Willie O'Reilly said that the results reflected continued strong advertising growth in the radio sector. "I would caution that they cover the peak period of our year but they definitely show there's been great progress, " he said.

O'Reilly said earnings at the station, which is owned by multinational media group Emap, continued to grow in 2006, fuelled by advertising growth of around 10%.

"The main drivers last year were the huge competition in the financial market because of the SSIAs, which also led other people like DIY stores and car dealers to advertise more because they knew their would be a greater influx of cash during the year, " he said.

Today FM's advertising revenues also received an indirect boost from the Ryder Cup, which was held at the K Club in September.

O'Reilly said the resulting feelgood factor among ad bookers ensure that the station set a new sales record for August.

According to the accounts, Today FM had accumulated profits of Euro7.5m on 31 March last year. The strong performance is in stark contrast to that of Emap's British radio interests, which are believed to seen sharp declines in ad revenues in recent months.