ITV delivers strong growth and continues to rebalance
Continued double digit growth in Non-NAR revenues
Total Non-NAR revenues up 11% to £568m driven by ITV Studios and Online, Pay & Interactive
Total ITV Studios revenues up 11% to £395m
Online, Pay & Interactive revenues up 19% to £56m
ITV Family NAR down 3% as expected
Total external revenues up 1% to £1,144m
Improved margins and double digit profit growth
EBITA before exceptional items up 11% to £291m
ITV Studios EBITA up 26% to £63m
Broadcast & Online EBITA up 7% to £228m
Adjusted PBT up 16% to £270m
Adjusted EPS up 15% to 5.3p
Investing in strategic acquisitions and delivering increased shareholder returns
ITV Studios completed acquisitions in the UK and the US
£20m cost savings on track
Profit to cash conversion strong at 100%
Net debt of £52m following acquisitions, dividends and further debt repayments
Board has declared an interim dividend of 1.1p up 38%
Positive outlook underpins performance for the rest of 2013
Expect ITV Family NAR for nine months to the end of September to be broadly flat following a good Q3 up 9%
Confident of delivering double digit revenue growth in Online, Pay & Interactive and ITV Studios over the full year
Adam Crozier, ITV Chief Executive, said:
"We're making good progress with our strategy of growing and rebalancing the business as we build new revenue streams and improve margins.
In the first six months of the year ITV continued to increase group profits and revenues despite the expected fall in our H1 advertising revenues. Non-advertising revenues were up by 11% to £568m, driven by significant growth in Online, Pay & Interactive and in ITV Studios.
ITV Studios delivered further growth in the UK and internationally both organically and through selective acquisitions in our key target markets - with total Studios revenues up 11%. We're showing real momentum in our strategy of creating a robust international content business and in building substantial strength and scale in the US market.
The improved variety and quality of the ITV schedule has driven a strong on-screen performance in the first half of the year with ITV Family SOV up 1%.
Our cash generation remains strong and we continue to have a robust balance sheet to support the strategy and invest in our future growth.
As we anticipated, the shape of the television advertising market this year is very different to 2012. In spite of monthly volatility we expect ITV Family NAR to be broadly flat for the nine months to the end of September with Q3 up 9%. We expect both ITV Studios and Online, Pay & Interactive to deliver double digit revenue growth for the year as a whole as we continue to rebalance and strengthen ITV."
