UTV reports 12% rise in pre-tax profit

UTV Media said pre-tax profit in the first half fo the year rose 12 per cent, with both radio and new media divisions within …

UTV Media said pre-tax profit in the first half fo the year rose 12 per cent, with both radio and new media divisions within the company delivering good results.

Sales increased 8.4 per cent to £62 million during the period, the company said. The radio unit's operating profit rose 31 per cent and new media earnings increased 51 per cent, while television profit dropped 15 per cent.

Net income fell to £7.53 million, or 13.08 pence a share, from £8.13 million, or 15 pence, a year earlier, the Belfast-based company said today in a statement.

"It has been a very tough television environment," Chief Executive Officer John McCann said in a phone interview today. "I can't see that changing in the future."

UTV rose as much as 3.25 pence, or 2.4 per cent, to 140.75 pence, and traded at 139.25 pence at 9.23am in London. Before today, the stock had fallen 37 per cent this year. On June 4, UTV fell the most in more than 17 years in London trading on plans to raise £49.9 million through a share sale to reduce debt and fund the development of a diversified multimedia business.

It offered two shares for every three held at 130 pence per share, a 39 percent discount to UTV's closing price the day before.

"UTV is outperforming its peer groups and its strategy of refocusing its business away from TV appears to be working,'' said Stephen Furlong, an analyst at Davy Stockbrokers.

UTV, which shows the programs of broadcaster ITV in Northern Ireland, said it's "difficult to predict the rest of the year with any degree of confidence" due to considerable uncertainty about global and national economies.

Bloomberg