Despite months of uncertainty as the ITV merger deal was decided, United News & Media (UNM) still looks set to achieve an overall trading result in the current year which is ahead of its original expectations.
Half-year results released today show that while pre-tax profits have remained steady year on year, increasing from £137.6m in 1999 to £137.8m this year, group turnover is up 14% at £1,153.7m, while headline profits are up 21% to £191.9m.
The biggest news for the company has obviously been the Granada merger (see Granada Takes Control Of ITV). Chief executive of UNM, Clive Hollick, commented, “Merging our ITV assets with those of Granada Media’s, at an overall value of £1.8bn, will allow shareholders to participate in the benefits of ITV consolidation.”
The value of business disposal transactions including the ITV merger is set to reach a total of £3.1bn, which will be used to eliminate group net debt. For Hollick, a strengthened financial position means the potential for growth. “Our objectives are clear.” he said, “We are substantially strengthening our balance sheet and now have the financial flexibility and management focus to ambitiously develop our position in our core high-growth market information sectors. We will build on market leading businesses CMP, PR Newswire and UIG, while continuing to grow our online businesses Xilerate and CMPNet.”
Hello. We have downloaded cookies on your device. Some of these cookies are essential for the website to function. Others are non-essential and are used for analytics and advertising.
We need your consent for these types of cookies.
To withdraw your consent or change your cookie choices, please do this through your browser settings.
Otherwise, click OK to accept and continue.
