UTV surges despite dip in interim profits

28th Aug 2015 10:30

(ShareCast News) - Shares in UTV Media jumped 7% on Friday, even though the media group posted a slight dip in interim pre-tax profit.In the six months to 30 June, UTV reported a 2% year-on-year decline in pre-tax profits to £980,000, despite a 0.8% increase in revenues to £58.3m.The Irish broadcaster attributed the decline in profits to the rising costs of operating its UTV Ireland channel, whose performance fell short of expectations in the first six months of the year.The channel's share of commercial impacts, a gauge of television audience, during the period was 11.4%, short of initial forecast of approximately 15%, while it booked expenses of £12.4m compared with revenue of £4.9m and reported an operating loss of £7.5m."The challenges of establishing a new television channel are evident in these results which reflect the significant losses incurred by UTV Ireland in its first six months on air," said group chairman Richard Huntingford.In a statement released on Friday, UTV said its channels´ progress remained "closely linked" to the performance of ITV's programming, however it did not comment on speculations that linked ITV with a possible takeover.Last weekend, The Guardian reported ITV was in negotiations to purchase UTV.UTV shares were up 7.14% to 180.00p at 1144 BST on Friday.