STV sells Pearl & Dean

STV has sold cinema advertising business Pearl & Dean to new company Image Limited for £1.

Image Limited is backed by Thomas Anderson, a director and the ultimate owner of Empire Cinemas. STV said the sale is the final step in the board’s plan to dispose of legacy businesses which it inherited, allowing it to refocus on its core businesses.

It added that the sale is expected to be broadly neutral for STV, in terms of its expected impact on the group’s earnings in the current financial year.

Rob Woodward, STV CEO, said: “Completion of this disposal will enable STV to continue to focus on creating shareholder value through the delivery of our growth strategy and recently announced KPI targets for our core television and digital businesses.

“As stated in our recent results, we are continuing to build our portfolio of media assets and our focus is now firmly on growth across all platforms through innovation and the provision of unique, relevant, distinct and entertaining content.”