The firm, which owns Virgin Radio and Scotland's two main ITV stations, said a boost in revenues through the tournament was helping it shrug off the effects of an 18-month advertising downturn.

"Undoubtedly the World Cup has boosted May and June, particularly in television and radio," chairman Don Cruickshank told shareholders.

And the company, which also owns newspapers including Glasgow's Herald, voiced hopes of a revival in takings in coming weeks.

"Continued growth in July and some early, but tentative, signs of improvement across the remainder of the summer are evident across most of the sectors in which we operate," Mr Cruickshank added.

He warned, however, against overoptimistic forecasts for trading towards the end of the year.

"While the indications are that we have entered a period of greater stability... it is premature to speculate on how the advertising market will perform beyond the summer."

Winners and losers

SMG is the latest in a number of firms to credit the World Cup for helping trade.

Regent Inns, operator of Walkabout and Jongleurs venues, on Wednesday reported "strong trading" during the first two weeks of the tournament.

Electronics retailer Comet said sales of large-screen televisions doubled after England beat Argentina, with trade in the sets already twice as busy as it was a year before.

And supermarket chain Waitrose saw reported strong sales at the end of last week as England supporters stocked up in preparation for the match against Denmark, and celebrated victory afterwards.

But not all firms will mourn England's exit from the competition on Friday - at least on trade grounds.

Even sporting goods retailer JD Sports said the competition has been a mixed blessing.

While sales of team strips had risen, replica shirts account for only a small proportion of takings.

And the stores found that on days when England played, trade was lost through football fans watching TV rather than shopping.