UTV Media plc (“UTV” or “the Company” or “the Group”) ROBUST PERFORMANCE IN CHALLENGING MARKETS UTV DECLARES A 17% DIVIDEND INCREASE Belfast, London & Dublin – 19 March 2013: UTV Media plc today announces preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2012 Financial highlights on continuing operations* . Group revenue of £120.1m (2011: £121.6m) . Pre-tax profits of £21.0m (2011: £23.3m) . Group operating profit of £23.9m (2011: £26.8m) . Radio GB operating profit up 5% to £13.0m (2011: £12.4m) . Excluding talkSPORT International, Radio GB operating profit up 12% . Continued reduction in net debt to £49.4m (2011: £54.7m) . Net finance costs down by 13% to £3.0m (2011: £3.5m) . Diluted adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of 16.92p (2011: 18.96p) . Proposed final dividend of 5.25p resulting in a full year dividend growth of 17% to 7.00p (2011: 6.00p) * As appropriate, references to profit include associate income but exclude discontinued and exceptional items Operational Highlights . talkSPORT signed deal for Barclays Premier League worldwide audio broadcasting rights to 2016 . talkSPORT acquired worldwide commercial radio rights to FA Cup and Capital One Cup . Television and Radio Ireland revenues impacted by difficult economic conditions in Ireland . New Television Network Affiliate Agreement signed with ITV . Renewal process for Channel 3 Licence to 2024 agreed . Acquisition of Simply Zesty in March driving New Media revenue growth . Successful refinancing of bank facilities at competitive terms and pricing . Strong cash management and reduction in debt with Net Debt:EBITDA ratio of 1.91 times . Compliance with the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code following the appointment of a new Chairman and three new Non-Executive Directors to the UTV Board during the year John McCann, Group Chief Executive, UTV Media plc, said: “This is a robust performance in what continues to be a challenging economic environment, especially in Ireland. We have maintained effective control over costs coupled with strong cash management and continued debt reduction while at the same time maintaining the market leading positions enjoyed by our media assets. We have also continued to invest in the development of our businesses, in particular the establishment of talkSPORT International; concluded the Network Affiliate Agreement with ITV; acquired and integrated Simply Zesty and proceeded with the renewal of the Channel 3 TV licence. Reflecting our strong cash generation and our confidence in the future, we have increased the full year dividend by 17% and remain confident that the Group is well placed to maximise opportunities going forward.” 1 Key Dates . 16 May 2013 – Annual General Meeting & Interim Management Statement . 24 May 2013 – Record date for payment of dividends . 15 July 2013 – Payment of dividends . 27 August 2013 – Interim Results Announcement . 15 November 2013 – Interim Management Statement For further information contact: Maitland James Devas/Tom Buchanan +44 (0) 20 7379 5151 UTV Media plc John McCann, Group Chief Executive +44 (0) 28 9032 8122 Norman McKeown, Group Finance Director +44 (0) 28 9032 8122 Orla McKibbin, Head of Communications +44 (0) 28 9026 2188 Investor Enquiries www.utvmedia.com/investors 2 UTV Media plc Chairman’s Statement Introduction I am pleased to present my first Chairman’s Statement following my appointment on 30 July 2012. I was delighted and honoured to be appointed Chairman of your Company having admired its achievements for a number of years and I very much hope that my many years of media industry and plc board experience can bring long term benefit to the Company and its shareholders. The Group has a portfolio of high quality media assets in radio, television and digital media and a strong track record of outperformance. With revenues derived primarily from advertising and a fixed cost base, the businesses are strong cash flow generators and enjoy high levels of operational gearing. Advertising expenditure however, is closely aligned to the health of the economy and levels of consumer confidence. Football pundits on talkSPORT often refer to a “game of two halves”, meaning a game characterised by different fortunes in the first and second halves. To some extent, a similar sentiment applies to the advertising markets in which your Group operated in 2012. In particular, the positive effect of the Euro 2012 football tournament in the first six months was replaced by a lacklustre performance around the Olympics in the second half of the year. More generally, a stronger advertising market in the first half softened in the second six months to deliver an overall year on year performance which was slightly down but in line with market expectations. The volatile nature of the macroeconomic conditions continue to challenge all of us, but what remains constant, however, is the high quality of the leading media assets which the Group holds and which enable it to maintain a competitive advantage in the markets in which it operates. Results * A slight increase in Radio operating profit to £19.0m (2011: £18.9m) was more than offset by a fall in Television and New Media operating profits to £3.9m (2011: £6.4m) and £0.9m (2011: £1.5m) respectively. Group operating profit, therefore, was down 11 % at £23.9m (2011: £ 26.8m). After a net interest charge of £3.0m (2011: £3.5m) and foreign exchange of £0.2m (2011: £Nil). Group profit before tax and exceptional items was 10% lower than last year’s record £23.3m at £21.0m. Diluted adjusted earnings per share were 16.92p (2011: 18.96p). Refinancing In May 2012 we successfully refinanced our bank facilities for five years. The competitive margins and covenant headroom obtained reflect a highly cash generative business with a strong balance sheet. Dividend It is testament to the resilience of your company and the cash generative nature of its businesses that a dividend continued to be declared every year during the downturn despite the most difficult macroeconomic environment. For a few years that dividend was constrained by our objective to reduce debt. That objective still remains in place, but with net debt now some 54% lower than at 31 December 2008, and with our net debt/EBITDA ratio below 2 times, your Board believes that it is appropriate to continue with its progressive dividend policy while maintaining a due degree of prudence during uncertain economic conditions. Accordingly, your Board is recommending a final dividend of 5.25p per share making a total for the year of 7.00p, which represents an increase of 17% over last year and a 75% increase from 2010. The final dividend will be paid on 15 July 2013 to all shareholders on the Register at the close of business on 24 May 2013. Radio * Our Radio GB division performed well in 2012, with a 5% improvement in operating profit to £13.0m (2011: £12.4m). Within this, talkSPORT’s performance was particularly strong, again outperforming the market in revenue growth and increasing its contribution to the Group by 26% before accounting for the expected operating losses of £0.9m (2011: £Nil) in its new international division. This international division has extensive audio rights agreements with the Premier League, the Football Association and the Football League, enabling it to exploit those rights on all audio platforms throughout most of the world. talkSPORT content in English, Mandarin, Spanish and Bahasa Malay, can now be heard in many different countries on both radio and other digital platforms, extending the talkSPORT brand beyond the UK. That brand, supported by our investment in sports rights and presenters, is of course now a household name within the UK with over 3 million listeners in our domestic market tuning in every week to listen to talkSPORT’s unique style of sports commentary and analysis. * As appropriate, references to operating profit include associate income but exclude discontinued operations and exceptional items. 3 UTV Media plc Chairman’s Statement Our local radio stations in GB attract 1.2 million listeners weekly by focussing on providing local content. That local content is attractive not only to local listeners, but also to local advertisers, a fact which the Competition Commission noted recently in its preliminary findings on the Global/GMG merger. However, while local advertising in 2012 performed strongly for us, up by 9%, national advertising on our local radio stations didn’t fare as well, decreasing by 9%. The Irish advertising market has declined much more severely than the GB market in the last few years. This trend continued in 2012 when the radio market is believed to have been down by 7% to 10%. However, the worst effects of this further market deterioration were countered by the continuing strong outperformance of our local radio stations in Ireland which recorded only a 1% reduction in advertising revenue in local currency. Outperformance has been, and remains, the keynote of our radio assets in Ireland which enjoy market leading audience positions in the major cities in Ireland. The audiences from our stations are aggregated with those of two independent local stations to create an “Urban Access” package for advertisers which now provides greater daily reach than the State broadcaster’s top national radio channel. With this reach also concentrated in the urban areas, we are able to provide a unique and attractive marketing proposition for our advertisers which drives our outperformance of the market. Adverse movements in the currency exchange rate resulted in our sterling-denominated Irish radio advertising revenue decreasing by 7%. As a consequence Radio Ireland operating profit was also down by 7% to £6.0m (2011: £ 6.4m). Television Two important long term strategic objectives were secured during the year. Firstly, in March we signed a new Network Affiliate Agreement with ITV plc which provides a stable commercial basis for the delivery of services, including programmes and new media, for the Channel 3 network.