UTV reports €14m pre-tax profit

UTV has reported a “resilient” first-half performance, with pre-tax profits of £11.2m (€14.1m) and an over-performing Irish radio portfolio — giving it “a strong platform for growth”.

That profit figure, for the first six months of the year, represented year-on-year growth of 3%. Group revenue was up by 4%, on an annualised basis, to £61.6m; diluted earnings per share grew by 3% to 8.93p and net finance costs were reduced by 12% to £1.6m. The only blot on the figures was a very marginal fall in operating profit from £12.8m to £12.7m.

The Belfast-headquartered broadcasting and new media group has reduced its net debt levels by nearly 50% in the last three years and has proposed an interim dividend for this year of 1.75p — compared to 1.50p for the first half of 2011.

John McCann, UTV Media’s group chief executive, said the “resilient performance” was posted in “a choppy market” and the period saw the business undergo “some exciting operational developments”.

New chairman, Richard Huntingford, added that UTV has “a strong platform for future growth, particularly once macro-economic conditions improve”.

With television revenues falling by 2%, year-on-year, and the new media division only upping its first half revenues by £200,000, UTV’s growth was again driven by its radio interests. In Britain, radio revenues increased by 18% to £6.9m.

In Ireland — where UTV owns Cork stations C103 and 96FM, Dublin stations Q102 and FM104, and Limerick’s Live95 FM — the group outperformed the wider market, which suffered from ongoing difficult advertising revenues.

On a like-for-like basis, UTV’s Irish radio arm grew revenues by 4% in the first half, but foreign exchange movements led to an ultimate 1% decline.

However, Mr Huntingford added: “Operating profit at our Irish radio stations increased by 10% in local currency, which, after adjusting for foreign exchange, was pared back to a still encouraging 5% improvement to £3.1m.”

The Irish radio division is expected to show a further 2%, year-on-year, growth in the third quarter.

“However, we would anticipate that with lacklustre conditions in Ireland, our television revenue will underperform the UK television market,” he added.