UTV has reported its first annual loss in Northern Ireland in a decade.
New accounts published for the ITV-owned operation show revenue fell by 20% last year to £22.1 million.
The £5.4m decline for the year ended December 31 2025 left the 12 months as UTV’s weakest performing trading period since ITV completed its acquisition in 2016.
The lower revenue left the broadcaster with an operating loss of £1.4m.
Offset against finance income, UTV Limited finished 2025 with a pre-tax loss of £859,000.
UTV relocated its television studio to the eighth floor of City Quays 2 in 2018.
It’s the first time the media company has reported a pre-tax loss since 2016, when it suffered a major hit from the sale of UTV Ireland to Virgin Media.
The UTV accounts show it actually finished 2025 with a bottom-line profit of £4m, due to a deferred tax credit of £4.9m inserted on its balance sheet.
The company’s operating expenses also declined last year to £18.8m, down 7% from 2024.
It included costs associated with programming budgets, transmission costs and other administrative expenses.
Staff costs for UTV’s 80-strong workforce increased 6.7% year-on-year to £4.2m.
It represented a record low headcount for UTV in the modern era.
Net assets increased 15% (£2m) to £15m.
The company’s assets were significantly depleted in 2023 when ITV took £25m in dividends out of the business.
UTV’s assets have been gradually recovering year-on-year since.
Originally established as Ulster Television, the company has been based at the City Quays 2 building in the Belfast Harbour estate since 2018.
ITV plc bought the station’s ITV franchise and the UTV brand for £100m in 2016, with the company’s radio division acquired by Rupert Murdoch’s News UK the same year.