ITV plc
Interim Management Statement
Continued ITV growth driven by strong performance of ITV Studios
ITV has published the following interim management statement in advance of the Company's Annual General Meeting to be held at 11 am today.
· External revenues up £65m (13%) to £565m (2011: £500m) in Q1 driven by non-NAR revenues
· Total non-NAR revenues up £87m (43%) at £290m (2011: £203m) driven by ITV Studios
· Total ITV Studios revenues up £80m (61%) to £212m in Q1 (2011: £132m) reflecting the front loaded delivery of a number of shows in 2012
· ITV Family NAR down 1% in Q1, in line with the market
· ITV Family SOV down 2%, with digital channels up 4% for the four months to the end of April
· Positive net cash position of £16m impacted by the timing of pension payments
· ITV NAR in first half is forecast to be ahead of the market up around 3%, benefitting from Euro 2012
Adam Crozier, ITV plc Chief Executive, said:
We continue to push forward with our five year Transformation Plan with external revenues up 13% in the first quarter of the year - driven by an increase in non-advertising revenues - in line with our strategy of rebalancing and growing the business.
ITV Studios again performed strongly both in the UK and internationally - particularly in the US - with an encouraging number of new commissions. ITV Studios revenues rose by 61% in Q1 to £212m reflecting the front loaded delivery of a number of shows, as well as the inclusion of ITV Breakfast production revenues now that Daybreak is produced by ITV Studios. This positive Q1 phasing is as we expected, and puts ITV Studios on track to grow revenues this year at a similar rate to 2011.
Share of viewing for ITV Family was down by 2% in the four months to the end of April, however we remain confident in our schedule with Euro 2012 in June and a strong Autumn line up.
ITV Family NAR started the year better than we anticipated but is nevertheless down 1% in Q1. While the underlying television advertising market continues to be broadly flat, we expect ITV's ad revenue to be up around 3% in H1, helped by Euro 2012. Going forward we expect to outperform the TV ad market in H1 and for the year as a whole.
