Shares in Northern Irish broadcaster UTV Media (LON:UTV), one of the only two remaining independent regional broadcasters in the ITV network, rose 10 percent in early trading after confirming it is in talks with ITV over the sale of its TV assets.

UTV said in a statement this morning that it was in discussions for a potential sale of its television assets:

“Discussions are ongoing and may or may not result in such a transaction being agreed.”

The company is due to report its results later this week, but has said that it expected to incur a loss of 11.5 million pounds, higher than the 6 million pounds it had forecast in March.

UTV Media is currently trading up 9.24 percent at 171.50 pence per share (1039GMT)