ITV – ad declines become more pronounced
- ITV’s advertising revenue dropped double digits in the first half
- Production business reaches £1.0bn in revenue
- Dividend maintained
Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown:
“ITV’s advertising revenue fell 11% in the first half as it grapples with an increasingly difficult backdrop for linear TV ads. With economic uncertainty mounting and marketers clutching purses tightly to their chest, this was always going to be a difficult time. Away from the short-term bumps, there’s a structural decline happening in the TV space – broadcast ads simply don’t pack the same punch they used to, thanks to the rise of streaming and the fact many of us spend our evenings glued to our phones too.
To that end, it’s encouraging to see the Studios business picking up the pace – making content for the new binge-watching culture is a good place to be. ITV are up against stiff competition here too though and we’re still some way off from ITV being solely reliant on this more lucrative revenue stream. The dividend’s been held which will please investors, but shareholder returns could be fickle in the future if cash needs to be funnelled at new ventures.”
