ITV confirms tough Q2, but 5-Year plan on course

As ITV publishes Q1 interim results today, Adam Crozier, chief executive, has admitted to a difficult Q2 for the broadcaster.

“We expected that the ad market in Q2 would be difficult given the very tough comparators and the continued economic uncertainty and – while this has proved to be the case – we still expect to see an increase in ad revenues for the first half of the year,” he said.

None the less, Crozier does believe the foundations are being laid for ITV’s five year plan and points to progress with the multiplatform strategy:

“The continuing volatility in the TV advertising market underlines the need for us to keep firmly focussed on our five year Transformation Plan. While we are still in the early stages, the foundations are now being put in place for a more balanced, creatively dynamic and robust business.

“We continued to develop our multiplatform strategy – online performance and distribution improved, with long form video views up 67% to 45m and total video views rising by 45% to around 72m. We’ve been investing in making ITV Player more robust and easier to use, and we’re making it available on a wide range of mobiles and tablets starting with Android smartphones within the next few weeks and on the iPhone in Q3.”

ITV highlights the following in a statement ahead of this morning’s AGM:

• Group revenues up 11% to £500m in Q1 (2010: £450m), driven by positive television advertising market
• ITV television advertising up 12% in Q1, ahead of the market up 10%
• Strong onscreen viewing performance with ITV1 share of viewing up 3%, digital channels up 11% and ITV Family up 4% for the four months to the end of April
• ITV Studios external revenues up 7% to £64m in Q1 (2010: £60m), driven by stronger international performance
• Net debt increased slightly to £197m (31st December 2010 – £188m) due to the timing of tax and pension payments offsetting underlying cash generation
• ITV NAR up 6% in April, and as expected likely to be down in May and June against a background of tough World Cup comparators and current economic conditions. Advertising revenues in first half forecast to be up between 1% and 2%

More later including city comment.