UTV Media is raising nearly £50m in fresh equity capital in the face of “worsening financial market conditions”. The opportunistic move on Wednesday could herald rights issues from other companies also looking to refinance debt at a time when the cost of borrowing for companies is rising.

The media group which operates the ITV franchise in Northern Ireland and has expanded into radio and the internet, said it had been looking to refinance its borrowings with new debt over the summer. But it said, given the “significantly increased cost of debt available in current markets” it had decided to accelerate its plans and add an equity issue to the refinancing.