Revenues Will Be Slow In First Half For Granada

Granada this morning held its first AGM since the demerger from the Granada Compass hospitality business, which was fully completed at the end of last week. Chairman Charles Allen told the company that 2000 delivered a good performance and increased earnings by 9%.

In July 2000, 20% of the group – then Granada Media – was floated on the London Stock Exchange and at that time the company also announced its intention to become the leading player in the ITV Network. This was subsequently achieved by the successful acquisition of United News & Media. “The integration of the businesses has been progressing well and we are confident of achieving our cost savings target of £30 million per annum in 2002,” says Allen.

Granada also said that in the fourth quarter ITV peaktime viewing share grew to 38.5%, 10.6% share points ahead of BBC1, and attracted an average 35% share of upmarket ABC1 Adult viewers, 4.4% share points greater than BBC1. These figures follow a change in peak-time programming strategy at ITV, put in place to deliver larger prime-time audiences to advertisers.

Allen described 2000 as a year of marked contrast in advertising revenue. “In the first six months of our last financial year, to March 2000, revenue grew very strongly and we recorded an overall 10.9% increase. After the record advertising levels in the first half last year, it was widely reported in the press and commented on by City analysts that ITV’s advertising revenues would be lower in the first months of the current financial year. In line with these expectations, the outcome for the first four months of the financial year was off by 5.1%,” he said.

Stock in Granada was down 1½p at 194p by 11:30am today.

Granada: 020 7620 1620