World Cup lifts UTV

UTV, the ITV franchise holder for Northern Ireland, has posted a revenue and profit increase for the first half of 2010.

The commercial broadcaster said the soccer World Cup and improved economic conditions were to thank for the encouraging results. Six-month profit to end-June was £9.4m compared with £8m in the same period last year. Revenue of £59.2m was up 9% year on year. The company said it would pay shareholders a dividend of 1p per share.