Rebalanced ITV delivers continued good growth
Interim results for the six months to 30 June 2016
Rebalanced business driving another strong performance in H1
Total external revenue up 11% to £1,503m (2015: £1,356m)
Double-digit growth in total Non-NAR revenue, up 26% to £874m (2015: £693m)
ITV Studios total revenue up 31% to £651m (2015: £496m)
Online, Pay & Interactive revenue up 26% to £107m (2015: £85m)
Net Advertising Revenue flat at £838m (2015: £838m)
Double digit growth in adjusted EBITA and EPS
Adjusted EBITA up 10% to £438m (2015: £400m)
ITV Studios adjusted EBITA up 42% to £121m (2015: £85m)
Broadcast & Online adjusted EBITA up 1% to £317m (2015: £315m)
Adjusted PBT up 9% to £425m (2015: £391m)
Adjusted EPS up 10% to 8.5p (2015: 7.7p)
Strong balance sheet, healthy liquidity
Flexibility and capacity to continue to invest across the business
Reflecting strong cash flows and the Board's confidence in the business, it has declared a 2.4p interim dividend, up 26%, in line with our policy
Outlook for 2016 and beyond
ITV Studios on track to deliver double-digit total revenue and adjusted EBITA growth over the full year, primarily driven by acquisitions we have made
Confident in delivering continued double-digit revenue growth in Online, Pay & Interactive
ITV Family NAR expected to be down around 1% for the 9 months to the end of September and we expect to outperform the market again in 2016
Targeting £25m of overhead cost savings for 2017
We have a strong balance sheet and continue to see clear opportunities to invest behind the strategy in the UK and internationally
Adam Crozier, ITV plc Chief Executive, said:
"Our strategy of rebalancing and strengthening ITV and building a global production business of scale continues to deliver with double-digit revenue and adjusted EBITA growth in the first half of the year.
Revenue grew by 11% to £1.5bn, driven by non-advertising revenue, with total ITV Studios up 31% to £651m, primarily from our acquisitions. Online, Pay & Interactive also continued to grow strongly up 26% to £107m. Adjusted EBITA in the period rose 10% to £438m.
On screen we've performed strongly with Share of Viewing on our main channel up 7% while at the same time long form video consumption increased by 50%.
Against a backdrop of wider economic uncertainty following the EU referendum we have put in place a robust plan to allow us to meet the opportunities and challenges ahead. As part of this we are targeting a £25 million reduction in overheads for 2017.
Looking forward to the full year, we expect to deliver double-digit revenue and EBITA growth in ITV Studios as the acquisitions continue to deliver and double digit revenue growth in Online, Pay & Interactive. We anticipate NAR to be down around 1% in the first nine months of the year and we again expect to outperform the UK television market over 2016 as a whole.
Our strategy of strengthening and rebalancing the business is clearly working and remains the right one for ITV. We have a strong balance sheet and the capacity to continue to invest behind our strategy, while at the same time delivering returns to our shareholders.
Reflecting ITV's strong performance the Board has proposed an interim dividend of 2.4p, up 26%, in line with our policy."
