UTV Media’s Irish TV unit reports turnover below expectations

The group made no further comment on negotiations to sell its television division, which were reported on earlier in the week.

“Yes, there have been problems this year and there has been confusion”, he said.

The group admitted that turnover in UTV Ireland was below expectations “as a result of a slower build in audience numbers”. There will be us and only us.

UTV Media plc is the United Kingdom based company engaged in g broadcasting and digital media assets across radio and television divisions.

Speaking about UTV Ireland, UTV Media chairman Richard Huntingford said that the Irish station had a significant effect on the company’s accounts.

UTV’s Northern Ireland TV station saw revenues drop 2% in the first half, due to an 11% fall in regional ad revenue owing to cuts by government departments.

Operating losses at UTV Ireland during the first half amounted to £7.5m on the back of costs of £12.4m and a poorer than anticipated 11.4% share of commercial advertising share here during the period.

Despite the troubles of its Irish station, UTV kept its proposed dividend consistent at 1.82p.

“Less evident, but not to be lost sight of, is the inherent value created by the establishment of a mainstream television channel in Europe’s fastest growing economy; with long-term licensing, programme supply and infrastructure in place”, he added.

Overall revenue at the firm – one of just three listed companies here – was £58.3m.

Mr Huntingford also said UTV is “implementing an action plan which includes stronger domestic programming, more effective marketing and a better defined branding strategy” to improve UTV Ireland’s results.

The company reported that its net debt grew to £46.9m.

The broadcaster, which carries ITV shows in Northern Ireland, said interim profit was down 90% at around £1mln, from £10mln in the same period of 2014, largely due investments into a new operation in the Republic of Ireland.

UTV posted a pretax profit of GBP980,000 for the half year to end-June, down from GBP1.0 million a year before, despite revenue rising to GBP58.3 million from GBP57.8 million, as a result of a step up in operating costs related to the new channel. That said, the unit did benefit from “compensating currency tailwinds”.