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Shares in FTSE 100 broadcaster ITV (LON:ITV) have climbed 6.54% to 113.20p (as of 10:55 BST) after its results for the first half of 2019 were slightly ahead of expectations. Revenues for the period still dropped by 7% and adjusted EBITDA was down by 13%.
CEO Carolyn McCall commented: “ITV delivered another good viewing performance in the first half of the year. Online revenues grew strongly up 18% despite tough comparatives, with Love Island providing a strong finish to the half. This was reflected in better than expected total advertising revenue.
“The economic and political environment remains uncertain but we are very focused on delivering our strategy and creating a stronger, more diversified and structurally sound business to enable ITV to take advantage of evolving viewing and advertising opportunities.
“We are making good progress in each area of our strategy as we become an increasingly digital entertainment company. BritBox is set to launch in Q4, as is our new programmatic addressable advertising platform, and we are accelerating our digital and data capabilities.
“ITV Studios has a solid pipeline of new and returning shows this year – from I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! to World on Fire to Snowpiercer – and is firmly on track to deliver our full year guidance.
“We continue to deliver strongly on our cost savings where we are targeting, in addition to the original £35m to £40m, a further £5m this year and £15m between 2020 to 2022, totalling £55m to £60m over 2019 to 2022.
“We have a solid balance sheet which enables us to make the right decisions to build a robust and growing business and deliver returns to shareholders in line with our guidance”.