STV Profits Rise 40%

(Updated at 11:43am)

Scottish Television this morning announced annual financial results which show that its pre-tax profits have risen 40% to a record £28m. This was helped by the first contributions from Caledonian Publishing which STV bought in July 1996 for around £120m. Turnover rose 16% to £114.7m.

Broadcasting turnover grew by 8% to £85.4m as ad revenue grew ahead of the ITV market, increasing 8% to £81.4m. This gives STV a 4.91% share of ITV ad revenue, compared to 4.77% in 1995. The disposal of the group’s stakes in HTV and ITN to United News & Media in October gives the broadcaster a cash pile of £14m and Gus Macdonald, chairman of STV, pointed out that the company was still on the lookout for acquisitions. He said that the cash “puts us in a position of significant financial strength as we continue with our strategy of creating a broadly based Scottish media group.”

STV’s share price at 11.00 was up 5p to 635p.

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