ITV Pre-Tax Profit Up 73 Percent

LONDON: On revenues that were up just 4 percent to £1.03 billion, ITV plc reported a half-year adjusted profit before tax of £204 million, reflecting a 73-percent increase on the year-ago period.

Broadcasting and online revenues were relatively stable, rising 3 percent to £887 million, delivering an EBITA that was up 66 percent to £202 million. At ITV Studios, revenues gained 11 percent to £140 million, driven by international growth, while EBITA fell slightly to £38 million as a result of investments in creative talent as well as the development and piloting of new content. Overall EBITA before exceptional items increased 45 percent to £240 million. Net advertising revenues at the ITV family of channels rose 2 percent.

The company also noted that net debt was down to £52 million from £188 million six months ago.

Announcing the results, Adam Crozier, chief executive, noted, “We’re now one year into our five year Transformation Plan and making good progress on delivering our strategy of creating great content and exploiting it across multiple platforms and selling it internationally. As today’s results show, our focus on costs, cash generation and improving the efficiency of our balance sheet gives us an increasingly strong financial base from which to drive our strategy forward. Despite the difficult economic backdrop and the absence of the Football World Cup, our advertising revenues increased by 2 percent and, while we continue to plan prudently, we expect to outperform the TV advertising market across the whole of the year."

He continued, “Our plan to renew and refresh our content business is beginning to gain momentum under the new top team in ITV Studios as we invest in reenergizing the creative pipeline and in developing and piloting new programs. While there’s still a long way to go, we’re starting to see potential in the level of new work coming through ITV Studios with 68 new commissions so far this year, of which 29 are international. Prime Suspect is being co-produced in the U.S. for NBC while Julian Fellowes’ Titanic, also a co-production, is fully-funded and already pre-sold to 15 broadcasters around the world, including ITV1. Other new entertainment programs being produced for ITV1 include Holding out for a Hero, Born to Shine and Red or Black. These are early indications of the potential for ITV Studios’ creative output as we renew our commitment to the producer/broadcaster model."

He added, “There are clear signs of momentum building in the delivery of our five-year Transformation Plan but we know there is still much to be done to rebalance the business as we adapt to the digital future. We’re encouraged by our progress to date and the prospects for ITV in the medium to long term, although we remain cautious about both the TV advertising market and the economy."