- Group revenue down 8% to £2.7 billion
- Total ITV Studios revenue down 20% to £1.21 billion
- Additional £20 million net cost savings in 2024
Shares in ITV (ITV) fell more than 8% to 66p in morning trading as the free-to-air broadcaster said group revenue fell 8% at £2.7 billion in the nine months to 30 September.
Total ITV Studios revenue was down 20% to £1.21 billion impacted by the expected phasing of production deliveries, the 2023 US writers’ and actors’ strikes and lower demand from free-to-air broadcasters in Europe in the short-term.
Total advertising revenue was flat in the third quarter as expected with the full year expected to be up around 2.5% and the fourth quarter expected to be down between 6% and 7% against the Rugby World Cup comparative.
The company said ITV Studios was on track to deliver record earnings before interest taxation and amortisation in 2024 and an unusually high number of productions in the fourth quarter including in the US: The Better Sister for Amazon Prime Video and Hell's Kitchen for Fox; in the UK: Shetland for the BBC, Grace S5 for ITV, Destination X for the BBC and NBC.
On-demand streaming service ITVX continued to perform strongly with 14% growth in streaming hours and 15% growth in digital advertising revenue.
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Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell said: ‘ITV was hit by lower revenue from its Studios business and hesitant corporates holding back from placing advertising bookings until they’d seen the details of the Budget. That news prompted a big sell-off in its share price, extending a poor run for the stock since late September. ITV’s response was to look deeper into the business for cost savings.’
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DISCLAIMER: Financial services company AJ Bell referenced in this article owns Shares magazine. The author of this article (Sabuhi Gard) and the editor (Martin Gamble) own shares in AJ Bell.
