LONDON (Alliance News) - UTV Media PLC on Thursday said trading for 2015 was in line with its expectations and said it expects to complete the sale of its television business to ITV PLC by March, leaving it focused on its radio assets.
UTV said the sale of the television unit to ITV is expected to result in net cash proceeds to the company of GBP98.0 million, with GBP55.0 million of this to be returned to shareholders.
It said good progress has been made on securing the necessary regulatory clearances for the deal and it expects to complete it by the end of March 2016.
The deal will leave UTV focused on its radio assets, and it said it expects to launch three new stations in the first quarter of 2016. It has also identified annual cost savings of GBP3.0 million across the remaining business, to be achieved by 2017. It said GBP1.9 million of those savings will be achieved in 2016.
It said it now has a strategic plan in place to deliver double-digit profit growth over the medium term, driven by the investment in its new radio stations.
UTV shares were down 0.1% to 178.75 pence on Thursday.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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