RTÉ is set to report an after-tax surplus of more than €2 million for 2003 amid major competitive pressures in the key area of TV advertising and sponsorship.
The broadcaster's annual report and accounts for 2003 are due to be approved by Government within the next fortnight.
While the annual report will show advertising revenue under continuing pressure, cost control has prevented the station from slipping into a deficit once more.
The station set itself a target of €3 million plus surplus, but it is understood the final figures will fall short of this.
However, chairman of the RTÉ Authority, Mr Paddy Wright, is expected to say this was a credible performance considering the international climate for advertising.
He will warn, however, that RTÉ faces continuing threats to its financial stability from competitors, many of them based in Britain.
The station is also expected to refer to lower-than-expected returns from TV licence collection by An Post.
The two State-owned organisations have clashed repeatedly on the issue of TV licence revenue, with An Post signalling its intention to stop providing the service in the years ahead.
Pending restrictions on children's advertising from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) will also curb the station's income performance this year, although another surplus is expected in 2004.
Plans to sell off land in Beaumont, in north Co Dublin, are expected to provide a once-off windfall for the station.
Despite ratings successes for shows like Friends, You're A Star and Celebrity Farm, the station's TV advertising income has been under serious pressure from the likes of Sky and TV3, but also from other media sectors such as radio, internet and press.
Nevertheless, RTÉ programmes continued to dominate the top 20 list, with the Eurovision Song Contest delivering 843,000 adult viewers. Even areas like current affairs managed to bring in large audiences for the station in 2003, with several Prime Time specials getting up to 472,000 adult viewers.
But in the first 10 months of the year there was a €7.7 million shortfall in television advertising and sponsorship sales. However, the ending of a long feud with Proctor & Gamble shortly before Christmas did give the station a boost.
The station is believed to have made more than €9 million in cost savings in 2004, with staff numbers reduced under a voluntary severance package.
However, the Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, expressed dissatisfaction at the pace of cost savings when he assessed the station's application for an inflationary rise in the licence fee shortly before Christmas.
After reviewing a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Minister turned down the station's application for a €3.5 increase.
Instead, he granted a €2 increase, bringing the licence fee to €152 a year.
This decision was described as a "missed opportunity" by the station just before Christmas.
