UTV expects to score with increased advertising revenue when the European Football championships kick off this month. The event is expected to substantially swell advertising and audience figures for the company.

Chairman Mr John McGuckian confirmed yesterday the early months of this year had seen only a marginal year on year increase in adverting revenue.

He told shareholders at the company's a.g.m that there were some positive signals for revenue for the second half of the year.

These include an upturn in the growth of UK consumer expenditure, a higher level of advertising cost inflation being experienced by Channel 4 and increasing competitive activity in the Northern economy in some sectors such as retail and telecommunications.

Mr McGuckian said for the year as a whole, UTV's revenue performance would be in line with ITV overall. However, he does not expect this to be much ahead of inflation.

Shareholders approved a special dividend of £1 for each share. The company paid out £10.5 million in dividends, after reporting a 9 per cent jump in pre-tax profits to a record £8.2 million earlier this year.

The effect is to halve the company's growing cash holding.

Shareholders also approved a five for one share split to increase the stock liquidity and to bring the share price more in line with the market.

Most of the shares are held by British institutional investors and UTV is quoted in Dublin as well as London, but it did not trade today in Dublin. It last traded at £12.42.

UTV is part of the TV3 consortium which has submitted a business plan to the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC) for a licence to broadcast a third television station.