UTV profits rise 4%

UTV has reported its interim results today, showing a 4% rise in its operating profits to June 30.

The owner of TalkSport radio and operator of the ITV franchise in Northern Ireland, saw its profits rise from £12.5 million to £13 million in the six months to June 30, with a flat turnover £57.2 million.

The company's radio division performed best, with an increase of 7% to £6.8 million, even after the deductions of £1.3 million from the start up losses of its two new Edinburgh and Belfast radio stations.

Its television division created £5.6 million in operating profits, with its new media operations showing an operating profit rise of 25% to £0.6 million.

UTV has sustained the downturn in TV advertising revenue - a fall of 9% across the ITV network as a whole - showing just a 1% drop in ad revenue to £20.6 million in the first half of the year. The company predicts a decline of 6% in TV ad revenues for Q3. In the radio advertising market, UTV predicted a growth of 6% for Q3 in line with the market.

John McCann, group chief executive, UTV, said: "UTV has again performed strongly in a challenging period for the media industry. I am particularly pleased with the performance of the television and UK radio divisions which have once again outpaced their peers. While the performance of Irish radio in Q2 was disappointing, we have taken steps to address this and are confident of an improvement in the second half of this year."

"The outlook for Q3 is positive. We expect growth in UK and Irish radio advertising markets and television should start to benefit from better programming. While we expect market conditions to remain challenging, we remain confident that we will continue to deliver solid earnings growth," he added.