TV productions help lift ITV sales
PROGRAMME production has helped drive revenues at ITV which saw sales rise by 4% to £1.57bn in the nine months to September 30.
Its ITV Studios arm, which makes shows such as Coronation Street and Jeremy Kyle in Manchester, increased sales by 20% to £498m and a profit of over £100m is forecast for the year.
Across its channels national advertising revenue (NAR) was down by 6% in the third quarter, but the group said this was in line with expectations and ahead of the market. ITV expects ad revenue to be broadly flat over the year.
Over the nine months revenue from advertising was flat at £1.07bn but income from other commercial activities was up 15% to £730m.
Chief executive Adam Crozier said: “We have made further progress in reshaping and rebalancing ITV to ensure the business is more robust both commercially and creatively.
“The momentum we are building in our non-NAR revenues has helped grow group revenues up 4% to £1,57m in difficult economic conditions and with a broadly flat television advertising market.
“ITV Studios has performed strongly as our strategy of investing in the creative pipeline and talent again shows through in our results.
“We expect ITV Studios to report over £100m of profit in 2012, and the number of new commissions and recommissions already secured for 2013 gives us confidence that there will continue to be good underlying growth in the Studios business.”
