Belfast-based broadcaster UTV Media said revenue rose 6 per cent from £113 million to £120.3 million last year, while operating profit was unchanged at £28.1 million.
The company said 2008 profit plunged 39 per cent on reduced TV advertising revenue and one-off costs, and it warned that it expected a further decline in ad revenues this year.
Net income fell to £8.98 million from £14.7 million from a year earlier while sales totalled £120.3 million compared to 113.8 million in 2007.
Pre-tax profits, before exceptional items was down 2 per cent to £20.3 million from £20.8 million.
Overall, television advertising revenue fell by 7 per cent to £35.4 million in 2008 compared to £38.2 million. Radio revenue from the company's Irish stations grew 50 per cent to £24.9 million with like-for-like revenue growing 1 per cent. However, revenues from British stations was marginally down to $45.9 million versus $46.2 million in 2007.
Radio operating profit was up 12 per cent to £18.5 million while television operating profits were down 24 per cent to £7.7 million.
The company had exceptional costs before tax of £4.5 million pounds last year, up from £1 million pounds in 2007.
New Media operating profits rose 44 per cent in 2008 to £2 million while 'New Media'related revenue rose 18 per cent to £11.5 million.
“These are clearly unprecedented times and the impact on the Irish and UK economies is well documented. The advertising sector is feeling the full force of the downturn and clearly that is an issue we are actively addressing," said John McCann, UTV Media's chief excecutive.
"We moved early to raise capital and reduce debt through the rights issue and have aggressively cut costs throughout the business. Consequently we have once again outperformed the broadcasting sector and I believe we have the ability to maintain that outperformance. We are not complacent about the situation, but as a management team we are confident of the operational and financial strength of UTV Media,” he added.
The broadcaster said it would pay a reduced dividend.
