ITV share price tumbles as group unveils drop in ad revenue

Shares in ITV (LON:ITV) have tumbled more than six percent in London this morning, as the blue-chip broadcaster posted a drop in its advertising revenue. The company, which is facing a change at the top, however, signalled confidence going forward, forecasting that pressure in the advertising market will ease.

As of 10:03 GMT, ITV’s share price had lost 6.56 percent to 143.89p, underperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index having climbed marginally into positive territory and currently standing 0.12 percent higher at 7,424.06 points. The group’s shares have lost just under 14 percent of their value over the past year, and are down by some 30 percent in the year-to-date.

Third-quarter results

ITV announced in a statement this morning that its total external revenue had dropped one percent to £2.1 billion in the nine months ended September 30, pressured by a drop in net advertising revenue (NAR). ITV Family NAR was down seven percent in the nine-month period, and four percent lower in the third quarter of the year.

“ITV’s performance in the first nine months of 2017 is very much as we anticipated,” the company’s executive chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette commented in the statement, adding that the blue-chip broadcaster had seen “improving trends in all our key revenue lines in the quarter and we’re on track to deliver on the commitments we set out at the start of the year”.

Going forward

The FTSE 100 company, however, expects its advertising revenue to recover, with ITV Family NAR forecast to be up one percent in the last quarter of the year, with October down one percent, November up two percent and December up one percent.  Over the full year ITV Family NAR is expected to be down around five percent.

ITV said that that it would “enter 2018 in good shape with a strong operating performance underpinned by a robust balance sheet,” as it anticipates the arrival of its new chief executive Carolyn McCall, who is due to step down from easyJet (LON:EZJ) at the end of the year. 

As of 10:48 GMT, Tuesday, 14 November, ITV plc share price is 150.10p.