ITV PLC on Thursday said it remains mindful of macro economic uncertainty as it reported substantial growth in both profit and revenue ahead of the FIFA World Cup, as well as the launch of ITVX.
Shares in ITV were up 1.9% at 72.74 pence in London on Thursday.
For the six months ended June 30, the London-based media company said pretax profit surged 65% to £219 million from £133 million the same period a year before.
However, adjusted pretax profit remained flat at £301 million. This was caused by lower-acquisition related expenses but increased production tax, ITV said.
Total external revenue increased 8% annually to £1.68 billion from £1.55 billion the previous year.
ITV Studios revenue rose 16% to £927 million from £798 million the year prior, while Media & Entertainment revenue increased 4% to £1.07 billion from £1.03 billion over the same period. Total advertising revenue increased 5% as expected, due to the ‘tough comparatives’ from the Euro Football Championships and recovering economy a year before.
The company’s increased streaming offering attracted more viewers with total UK subscribers increasing 16% to 1.45 million from the December 2021. BritBox international subscribers increased 13% to 2.7 million over the same period.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was down 6% to £295 million from £316 million due to an additional investment of £58 million in content and £20 million in data and technology.
The board declared an interim dividend of 1.7p and said it is committed to paying a total dividend in excess of 5p for the full year.
Looking forward, ITV said it is on track to exceed 2019 revenue and it expects to continue growing ahead of the market. The company anticipates an increase in total advertising revenue as it will broadcast the FIFA World Cup later this year.
Additionally, the company has made the necessary investments ahead of the launch of its new steaming service, ITVX, it said, which is expected to deliver over £750 million in digital revenues by 2026.
Chief Executive Officer Carolyn McCall said: ‘We are mindful of the macro economic uncertainty, however we have for the first time ever in [the final quarter], the football World Cup to look forward to. We are on track against all the new [key performance indicators] and targets we announced earlier this year as part of the second phase of our More Than TV Strategy and we are very focussed on successfully launching ITVX, our new free ad-funded streaming service, in [the final quarter] this year.’
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