UK commercial broadcaster ITV has reported strong revenue growth for the last six months despite seeing a decline in the share of viewing for its channels.

ITV saw pre-tax profits rise by 40% to £250m (US$423m) for the first six months to June 31 as advertisers paid high prices to appear around the Fifa Football World Cup.

The results come in the same month that US cable giant Liberty Global acquired ^[1] BSkyB’s 6.4% stake in TV for £481m (US$824m).

ITV CEO Adam Crozier said at the presentation of the interim results today that Liberty’s strategy was “very much a matter for them” and said it was “business as usual” at the broadcaster, despite rumours of a takeover.

The UK firm also reported a surge in its pay, online and interactive businesses, which saw a 20% rise in revenue over the last six months.

First-half profits were up 11% to £322m as net advertising revenue rose 7%, faster than the market as a whole. Overall, external revenues were up 7% compared with the first six months of 2013, to £1.23bn.

However the revenue growth came as the audience share of ITV’s channels dropped by 5%, with a 3% decrease for its flagship network ITV1.

It blamed falling audience numbers on “disappointing” contributions from ITV2 and ITV3 but expects this to improve with the launch of new channel ITVBe this fall.

Crozier also revealed more details about the broadcaster’s plan to attract a younger audience via YouTube channels. It will launch 18 channels on the platform carrying short-form content after striking a deal with YouTube back in April.

Meanwhile, its production business, ITV Studios, which has new productions Texas Rangers (US) and Thunderbirds Are Go (UK) slated for 2015, saw earnings surge by 14% and revenue up 2% from last year to £402m. ITV took an 80% controlling stake in Pawn Stars producer Leftfield Entertainment in May ^[2], a deal that the UK company claims makes it the largest independent producer of unscripted programming in the US.

That acquisition represented further growth stateside for ITV’s in-house production arm, which has acquired Gurney Productions, High Noon Entertainment, Thinkfactory Media and DiGa Vision over the past 20 months.

Crozier said ITV’s full-year performance would “significantly outperform” the market.

“In the first six months of the year we again delivered double-digit profit growth in every area of the business and increased revenues by 7%. Share of viewing improved during Q2, helped by the FIFA World Cup, and we’re confident of our strong autumn schedule with both new and returning drama and entertainment,” he said.

“Online, pay and interactive is on track to deliver strong growth for the year as a whole, at least in line with the first half. The economic recovery is leading to an improved advertising market, with good growth across all key categories and ITV is well placed to take market share.”