ITV profits more than halved in the first six months of 2023 as the broadcaster suffered a weak advertising market and upped investment in ITVX.
Adjusted earning fell by 52 per cent to £152 million in the six months to the end of June 2023.
But ITV Studios, which makes popular shows Love Island and The Chase, saw an 8 per cent jump in revenues, which hit £1billion in the period for the first time.
ITV’s adjusted EBITA profits fell by 52 per cent to £152 million in the six months to the end of June
Total advertising revenue in its first half declined 11 per cent to £811million while total revenues slipped 1 per cent to just under £2billion.
Carolyn McCall, chief executive of ITV, said: ‘Looking forward we see a more encouraging outlook as advertisers build their campaigns around the large streaming and linear audiences expected to be drawn to the Women’s World Cup, the Rugby World Cup and the eagerly anticipated return of Big Brother.’
While advertising suffered, ITV was handed a boost from digital revenue growth of 24 per cent via its ITVX platform.
McCall McCall said digital revenue growth was due to a ‘step change in our viewer metrics – with more viewers watching more content and staying longer’, adding thatt the group is on track to achieve ‘at least’ £750million of sales by 2026.
She added: ‘As we said at the full year results in March, 2023 is the year of peak net investment in our streaming business and we expect profit to grow from here.’
ITV also revealed that advertising revenue was expected to be down 4 per cent in July and up 7 per cent in August.
The company said that it was too early to give a forecast for September although the signs were positive and it expected to see growth in the third quarter.
The news comes after earlier this month, ITV told investors that it was no longer considering an acquisition of television production company All3Media.
The potential deal emerged last month with reports suggesting ITV was ‘actively exploring’ a takeover of the Fleabag and Gogglebox maker, in a deal that was said to be worth more than £1billion.
But McCall told investors ITV is ‘no longer actively exploring’ a potential deal, though it will ‘continue to monitor’ the Warner Bros Discovery and Liberty Global-owned firm.
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