Ulster TV Sees Airtime Revenues Up 10% In Q1 2004

Ulster Television (UTV) continued to outperform ITV in terms of advertising in 2003, with its revenues rising by 2.1% whilst ITV’s fell by 3.4%. This gave UTV a record annual share of ITV advertising of 2.4%, according to the company’s full year results released this morning.

The group expects television ad revenues to rise by a further 10% in the first quarter of 2004, ahead of an ITV growth forecast of 8% by analysts at Merrill Lynch. However, UTV predicts that ITV’s growth will be just 2% for Q1.

The company says that a recovery in corporate earnings and the stimulus provided by the European soccer championships in June/July and the Olympics in August should underpin the cautious optimism which seems to exist in the advertising marketplace.

“That optimism has more solid foundations within the marketplace in Ireland where local television advertising grew strongly in both January and February. This growth has continued into March and we would expect the increase in our television advertising revenue to be of the order of 10% in the first quarter of 2004,” says chairman John B McGuckian.

UTV also owns three radio stations in Ireland, which saw advertising revenues rise by 5.5% across the year – ‘a creditable performance in sluggish market conditions’.

Group turnover rose by 14% to £54 million and group operating profit was up by 4% at £15.1 million. Television profits declined by 4% to £11.8 million, whilst radio operating profit rose by 23% to £2.5 million.

However, overall pre-tax profits were down year on year by 15.5% to £9.5 million. Nevertheless, shares in Ulster TV were up by 2.6% at 430p by 10.30 this morning.

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