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PARIS, July 25 (Reuters) - France's largest private broadcaster TF1 saw its second-quarter operating profit fall sharply because of higher costs associated with broadcasting the soccer World Cup.
Nevertheless, the highly anticipated event did boost advertising revenue in June and July, allowing TF1 to limit the damage the weak French economy did to its top line.
TF1 posted second-quarter sales of 556 million euros ($748 million), slightly worse than the 566 million euros analysts had been expecting, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Operating profit declined to 13 million euros in the second quarter from 63.3 million in the same period a year ago.
TF1 competes for viewers and advertisers with state-backed France Televisions and private peer M6, as well as a raft of newer free-to-air channels.
Net profit was boosted to 310.9 million euros, inflated by a gain of 293.8 million euros on the sale of a controlling stake in sports channel Eurosport to U.S.-based Discovery Communications in May.
TF1 also confirmed a goal to achieve 19 million euros of recurring cost savings in the second half of the year.
Southern European broadcasters have fared worse than those in Germany and Britain so far this year, because advertisers there remain loathe to spend when growth remains anemic.
TF1 shares have fallen 14.4 percent this year to close at 11.90 euros on Thursday. Smaller competitor M6 has also declined 15.8 percent to 14.25 euros, while the European media index is down 1 percent.
($1 = 0.7425 Euros) (Reporting by Leila Abboud and Gwenaelle Barzic, Editing by Tim Hepher)