ITV up despite COVID issues

The price of shares in FTSE 100 broadcaster ITV (LON:ITV) has climbed by 5.26% to 75.98p (as of 12:20 BST) despite external revenues for the three months ended 31st March dropping by 7%. Broadcast revenues and advertising were both up slightly, but the timing of deliveries and COVID working practices have lead to an 11% fall in ITV Studios’ revenue. The majority of global productions are still paused, but there has been an uptick in demand for library content internationally.

Chief Executive Carolyn McCall commented: “ITV has taken swift and decisive action to manage and mitigate the impact of COVID-19, by focusing on our people and their safety, and by continuing to reduce costs and tightly manage our cashflow and liquidity. We are also ensuring that we continue to inform and entertain our viewers and stay close to our advertisers. Everyone at ITV has responded extremely well to the challenges we are facing. We are now very focused on emerging from this crisis in a strong position, continuing to offer advertisers effective marketing opportunities and making preparations to restart productions safely“.