Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

The new UTV Ireland television station generated a loss of £7.5m (€10.2m) in the first half of this year; representing approximately 65% of the venture’s anticipated losses for the full year.

The Ftse 100 slumped to its lowest level in almost three years yesterday, with all individual stocks in the red and miners leading the slide on growing fears of a China-led global economic slowdown.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

Just months after being launched, UTV’s Irish television station could be offloaded along with the rest of the group’s TV assets.

Fledgling station UTV Ireland has increased its estimates for losses for a third time in less than a year, and now predicts it will post losses of £11.5m (€16.2m) in 2015 — its maiden year of operation.

The newly launched UTV Ireland television station is expected to generate losses of around £6m (€8.3m) this year — roughly double the amount initially anticipated by parent group, UTV Media.

Radio and TV broadcaster UTV Media has reported a 62% jump in half-year profits.

Broadcaster Pat Kenny is to make his television comeback on the country's new station UTV Ireland next year.

Executive chairman Shane Reihill stands to make nearly €28m in cash and share entitlements from investment firm TVC Holdings’ decision to effectively wind down its business and return 90% of its net asset value to shareholders.

Dublin-based investment firm, TVC Holdings has sold its near 29% shareholding in newly floated hotel group, Dalata for €30.4m.

The Dalata Hotel Group is hoping to use proceeds from its upcoming flotation to expand its property network, either via single asset purchases or the buyout of rival groups’ portfolios.

Investment firm TVC Holdings has reported a 184% year-on-year increase in first half pre-tax profits, with earnings per share trebling.

UTV has vowed to go head-to-head with RTE and TV3 in a battle for Irish television viewers with a new station based in Dublin.

UTV is to launch a new television channel in the Republic, it announced today.

Investment company TVC Holdings has said that it will continue to look for acquisition and investment prospects, in the €10m-€20m range, despite seeing a dearth of opportunities of late.

Shareholders in UTV Media are in line for a 17% increase in their annual dividend, despite the Belfast-based broadcasting group suffering a 10% fall in profits for 2012.

UTV Media has said that its Irish radio division has “significantly” outperform- ed the market so far this year, despite revenues showing a 6% annualised decline.

TVC Holdings has reported pre-tax profits of €2.4m for the half-year to the end of September — a near 37% decline on the same period last year.

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”.

An advertising boost from the Euro 2012 football tournament helped the owner of radio station talkSport weather “choppy” trading conditions today.

Three directors of UTV Media plc have left the board of the company.

EUROPEAN stock markets made a positive start to the week on the back of the continent’s super-powers ramping up attempts to end the eurozone debt crisis and save the future of the single currency.

INVESTMENT firm TVC Holdings is back in the black on a first half basis.

GOLD prices rose by 2% yesterday to reach a record high of $1,877 per ounce as equity-wary investors continued to switch theirattention to the commodity markets.

UTV Media, the North’s biggest broadcaster, said first-half profit rose on increased revenue and lower costs.

THE ISEQ index of Irish shares nudged forward by another 10 points (0.33%), yesterday, to close at just under 3,100 and just about keep up its slow growth momentum from earlier in the week.

VENTURE capital specialist TVC Holdings – which yesterday announced a return to profitability – remains confident of selling off its non-core investments and realising its aim of building a portfolio of “four core platform investments”.

UTV MEDIA has seen a further 7% fall in advertising revenue from its Irish radio operations since the beginning of this year, following a 16% fall for the whole of 2009.

ADVERTISING revenue at UTV’s Irish radio operations fell by 16% last year, but the group’s business here maintained overall annual revenue levels at £24.8 million (€27.5m).

Belfast-based UTV Media, which controls the ITV franchise in the North and owns radio station talkSPORT, has today reported that pre-tax profits down by £2.6m (€2.9m) to £18.1m (€20.15m) in 2009.

ORGANO Investments – one of the investment vehicles owned by Irish financiers Neill Hughes and Peter Crowley – has increased its stake in UTV Media, to more than 16%.

THE Republic-based radio portfolio of UTV Media – the Belfast-based broadcast media group – has continued to be one of the best performing divisions of the group into 2009, just as it was last year.

Investment company TVC Holdings has increased its stake in UTV Media.

UTV’s Irish radio division — which includes Cork stations 103 and 96FM, Dublin’s Q102 and FM104 and Limerick’s Live 95FM — provided the main impetus to the Belfast- based-broadcasting group’s first half results.

IRISH financiers Neill Hughes and Peter Crowley have bought 6.3 million shares in UTV Media, giving them a 6.57% stake in the Belfast-based broadcasting company worth around £7.3 million (€9.18m).

TVC Holdings today announced that it has acquired a shareholding of 11% in UTV Media for an aggregate consideration of £14.9m (€19m).

UTV MEDIA, which yesterday reported that group revenues rose by 7% year-on-year over the first four months of 2008, is understood to have considered purchasing Irish television station, Channel 6, before deciding against making a bid.

UTV Media announced its results for the year ending December 31 2007 today, revealing a rise in group revenue of 2% to £115.6m (€151m).

MALAYSIAN pay-TV operator Astro All Asia Networks has reportedly joined the bidding race to buy radio station Virgin Radio from Glasgow-based media group SMG.