LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s ITV said on Thursday it expected total advertising revenue for the nine months to be flat, before it enjoys a pick up from the soccer World Cup at the end of the year.
The commercial broadcaster said its Studios and Media & Entertainment divisions had performed better than it had expected in the first half of the year. On the outlook, it said it remained mindful of the macro economic uncertainty but would benefit from the World Cup held in November and December.
ITV, which shows long-running soap “Coronation Street” and reality show “Love Island”, said in May it expected ad revenue for the first half to be up 5% year-on-year, with April up 9%, May down 8% and June down 15%.
It said on Thursday it had hit a 5% growth target, and now expected July to be down 9%, which it said was better than it had expected, with August down 18%, due to the tough comparison with last year when the Euro Football Championship was held.
ITV surprised the market in March when it announced “ITVX”, a major expansion of its primarily ad-funded streaming service later this year, backed by a 160 million pound content budget.
The company’s shares fell 28% on the day and has drifted lower since, as a deteriorating economic outlook in Britain adds to pressure.
“With the launch of ITVX we are confident in delivering at least 750 million pounds of digital revenues by 2026 and delivering attractive returns to shareholders,” it said.
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Michael Holden)
