Ad revenue up but ITV warns of ‘difficult’ Q2

ITV has continued to see a revival in advertising revenues, reporting first quarter growth of 12%.

In an interim management statement the group said this performance was 2% ahead of the wider market.

But chief executive Adam Crozier warned that the second quarter would be “difficult” due to the economy and the fact that the figures would be compared against last summer when the World Cup drove strong ad revenues.

ITV, which holds its annual meeting today, saw group revenue rise by 11% to £500m during the period on the back of stronger advertising.

The broadcaster also said ITV1’s share of viewing grew by 3% in the four months to the end of April. Its digital channels saw an 11% rise.

Mr Crozier said: “We have had a positive start to the year, outperforming the TV advertising market in Q1 with advertising revenues up by 12%.

“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.

“As we anticipated, tough ITV1 World Cup comparators in June mean we may slightly underperform the market in the first half. While we expect to outperform the market across the whole of the year, we remain cautious about the economic outlook.”

ITV signed up to Salford Quay’s MediaCity in December, a decision that will require the reconstruction of the Coronation Street set on a brownfield site next to the Imperial War Museum North. It will move to the new site next year.