29^th April 2021

STV Group PLC

Trading Update

Advertising recovery ahead of expectations; positive future outlook

·    Ahead of its Annual General Meeting at 11am today STV Group plc announces that advertising trends continue to improve in 2021, with STV's January-April total advertising revenue (TAR) now +10%, ahead of previous guidance of +7-9%.

·    STV-controlled advertising continues to outperform the wider market, with regional advertising revenues up 12% in the first four months of the year.

·    Video on Demand advertising on the STV Player continues to see strong growth, up 26% across January-April, and has now delivered 8 consecutive months of growth since August 2020.

·    STV's record viewing performance has continued into 2021, with TV viewing up 12% in Q1 and STV now the most watched TV channel in Scotland, ahead of BBC1 in both peak time and across the whole day, for the first time since 2006.

·    Online viewing was up 73% in Q1 and streams up 98%, with STV Player the fastest growing broadcaster streaming service in the UK and STV Player-only content making up 40% of all streams so far this year.

·    In terms of the outlook, STV expects May TAR to be up 65-80% as the advertising recovery continues, resulting in January - May TAR of +15-20%. This would mean advertising revenue for the first 5 months of 2021 was broadly in line with the same period in 2019.

·    STV also expects a strong commercial and viewing performance in June as the economy continues to reopen, supported by a high-quality programme schedule on TV and online, including the start of the delayed Euro 2020 football championships where STV will broadcast over 20 live and exclusive matches featuring both Scotland and England.

·    STV Studios also remains on track to deliver its most successful year yet, with revenues of £20-25 million already secured for 2021. STV Studios is currently in production on 15 series for 11 different networks, including new drama series Screw and new factual entertainment format Murder Island, both for Channel 4. Last month STV Studios confirmed a further drama series commission, Blue Lights, by creative partner Two Cities Television, for BBC1.

·    Finally, STV confirms that, as planned, Baroness Margaret Ford will step down as Chair at today's AGM after 8 years and will be replaced by Paul Reynolds who joined the Board on 1^st February 2021.

Simon Pitts, STV Chief Executive, said:

"It's still relatively early days in the economic recovery but I'm encouraged by the strong start we've made to 2021, with advertising for the first 5 months of the year expected to return to 2019 levels and our excellent digital and production growth continuing.

We're setting more viewing records on screen and online, with TV viewing up 12% and STV Player viewing up 73% in Q1, the fastest growth of any UK broadcaster.

STV-controlled Scottish advertising and digital advertising both continue to outperform the wider market, driven by our advertising Growth Fund and the success of our streaming service, STV Player, following its recent launch across the whole of the UK.

We have more to look forward to in 2021, with STV Studios on track to deliver its most successful year yet following a record 19 new commissions last year, as well as the exciting prospect of the delayed Euro 2020 football championships, with over 20 games live and exclusive on STV including both Scotland and England.

Finally on behalf of everyone at STV I'd like to thank Margaret for her outstanding stewardship, guidance and unstinting support of STV as Chair over the past 8 years. I'm looking forward to working with Paul and the rest of our Board to deliver continued success at STV."

ENDS

Enquiries:
STV Group plc:

Kirstin Stevenson, Head of Communications, Tel: 07803 970106

Camarco:

Geoffrey Pelham-Lane, Partner, Tel: 07733 124226

Ben Woodford, Partner, Tel: 07790 653341