18th Mar 2014 11:05
LONDON (Alliance News) - UTV Media PLC Tuesday maintained its total dividend for 2013 and expressed confidence for 2014 on improving advertising revenue trends, as its pretax profit dropped on lower revenue.
The broadcaster maintained its total dividend at 7.00 pence.
UTV posted a pretax profit of GBP16.9 million, down from GBP20.1 million, as revenue dropped to GBP107.8 million from GBP112.3 million. The company said it had seen advertising market conditions improve in the second-half of the year; although revenue declined 11% in the first-half, it was up 3% in the second-half.
UTV said this improvement had continued into the current year, as all of its divisions had reported growth in the first quarter of 2014.
The company expressed optimism that the advertising market in the Republic of Ireland was improving after a challenging few years. In radio advertising, Irish revenues saw growth in the first three months of 2014 and GB Radio revenues are expected to be up 7% in the first quarter. Within GB Radio, the company's talkSPORT brand's revenue will be boosted by the FIFA World Cup in the summer, said the company.
It plans to launch a new television channel in Ireland with ITV Global Entertainment, with exclusive rights from January 2015 to ITV studios programmes in Ireland.
The company noted that it as part of its strategy to focus on broadcasting, it had decided to exit from its non-core activities. It absorbed its Tibus and Simply Zesty brands into its television division, and either sold or held for sale its portals Propertypal, UTV Drive and Recruit NI. It is currently in the process of selling its UTV Connect business.
Shares in UTV Media were trading down 1.1% at 241.75 pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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