ITV says that its outlook heading into the new year is encouraging - and that advertising revenue grew inline with expectations during its third quarter.

This performance was helped by the company's exclusive rights to air the 2015 Rugby World Cup in the UK - although ITV's ratings are likely to have suffered after the English team exited the competition during the group stages.

Total advertising revenues from ITV's suite of channels increased by 6% in the three quarters to the end of September.

The company said that full-year revenue growth is now expected to be up by at least 5% - ahead of the growth recorded by the market as a whole.

The company's chief executive Adam Crozier commented on the performance, "As we expected, share of viewing has improved in the second half driven by strong performances in daytime, the soaps and the Rugby World Cup, and continuing this trend remains a key focus for the business."

ITV hopes to add to its broadcast interests through the acquisition of UTV Media outlets - including the Dublin-based UTV Ireland.