In its first trading statement since UTV took over the Wireless Group in a £97m deal in June, the company said that it expects television advertising to fall by around 3.5% in the second half of the year.
However, it says that this will be mitigated by cost savings from the merger of its radio assets with those of The Wireless Group to form a new division called UTV Radio. It anticipates savings of £1.5m in the first full year of ownership.
UTV Radio's Irish radio stations, including Dublin's Q102 and Limerick's Live95 FM, are expected to show 16% growth in ad revenue for the second half of the year. UTV is also anticipating strong growth at its new-media division, expecting a 50% rise in revenue.
John McCann, group chief executive of UTV, said: "We are very pleased with the performance of UTV Radio, especially TalkSport where revenues are well ahead of last year.
"With the football World Cup in 2006, we anticipate continued growth at UTV Radio and we look forward to the launch of Talk 107 in Edinburgh on February 14."
Shares in UTV rose by 1.3% this morning to trade at 415p, an increase of 5.5p.
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