ITV share price dips as advertising revenue drops

Shares in ITV (LON:ITV) have fallen deep into the red as the company disclosed that its advertising revenue had fallen in the first three months of the year amid economic and political uncertainty. The blue-chip broadcaster meanwhile updated investors on its streaming service, saying that it was on track to launch in the second half of the year.

As of 08:38 BST, ITV’s share price had given up 2.17 percent to 128.75p. The stock is underperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.09 percent lower at 7,254.23 points. The group’s shares have given up 14 percent of their value over the past year, as compared with about a four-percent fall in the Footsie.

ITV updates on Q1 performance

ITV announced in a statement this morning that its total external revenue had dropped four percent to £743 million in the first three months of the year. The company said that its growth in ITV Studios revenue and 22 percent growth in VOD revenues offset by the decline in spot advertising impacted by the timing of Easter and economic and political uncertainty.

“ITV’s performance in the first three months was very much as we expected,” the group’s chief executive Carolyn McCall commented in the statement, adding that ITV was “making good progress in delivering the strategy and we expect to launch BritBox in the second half of the year”.

The broadcaster said that it continued to expect to deliver double digit growth in online revenue and good organic revenue growth in ITV Studios over the full year.

Analysts on FTSE 100 broadcaster

The 16 analysts offering 12 targets for the ITV share price have a median target of 147.50p, with a high estimate of 190.00p and a low estimate of 105.00p. As of May 3, the consensus forecast amongst 19 polled investment analysts covering the blue-chip group advises investors to hold their position in the company.