ITV share price tumbles as Deutsche Bank issues sell note

Shares in ITV Plc (LON:ITV) have plunged in today’s trading following a sale note from Deutsche Bank, which said that the company had been underperforming the UK TV market.

“First quarter consensus for the UK TV market was +5% to 6%. A number of forecasts had been cut recently on weakening retail spend; supermarkets and DIY particularly cited. ITV was seen up 2-3% underlying, underperforming the market with C4 particularly strong,” the German lender said in the note.
Deutsche also noted that the broadcaster had boosted its year-on-year figures by including its online video service, ITV Player, in its revenue figures cited to media agencies. The broadcaster reports ad revenue from the player separately from its TV ad income.

“So although ITV was seen up +5% to 6.5% on a headline basis, on a like-for-like basis this is 2-3%.”
Nevertheless, Deutsche also said that there were “solid grounds” to expect that ITV would perform better in the second quarter of the year, helped by the fact that it owns the rights for the Euro 2016 football championship.
In today’s trading, ITV shares were down 6.5 percent at 238.90p, as of 13:06 GMT. The stock has fallen 13.7 percent since the start of the year and the company’s market capitalisation currently stands at £9.6 billion.
The 22 analysts offering 12 month price targets for ITV have a median target of 300.00p, with a high estimate of 375.00p and a low estimate of 220.00p.As of Feb 06, 2016, the consensus forecast amongst 25 polled investment analysts covering ITV had it that the company will outperform the market. The same consensus estimate has been maintained since January 22, 2016, when the sentiment of investment analysts improved from “hold”.
As of 14:34 GMT, Monday, 08 February, ITV plc share price is 243.25p.