Shares in ITV Plc (LON:ITV) have lost ground in London this morning, underperforming the broader market, even as the blue-chip broadcaster unveiled a surge in full-year profits and announced plans to distribute special dividend to shareholders.
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Broadcast and online revenues grew six percent to £2.15 billion, while ITV Studios delivered revenues of £1.24 billion, marking an increase of 33 percent year-on-year.
Overall, ITV posted a 2015 adjusted pre-tax profit of $1.18 billion (£843 million), up 18 percent from 2014.
Chief executive Adam Crozier said: “ITV delivered another strong year as we continue to grow and strengthen the business in the United Kingdom and internationally”.
ITV still cashed in from ads in 2015 though, with net advertising revenue (NAR) up 6% at £1.7 billion.
However, it expects net advertising revenues to be flat and “marginally behind the market” in the first quarter, compared to 12% growth in the same period previous year.
It said it expected to outperform the television advertising market in 2016.
“Continuing to deliver this scale and reach, as well as further strengthening our onscreen performance, remains a key focus for the company”.
Growth came from a combination of strong advertising revenues and the benefits of recent acquisitions of production studios. Looking to 2016 the group expects a strong performance from its global drama pipeline, with new series including Victoria, Tutunkhamun, Houdini & Doyle, Cold Feet, Poldark, Shetland, Aquarius, Endeavour and Vera.
At 1000 GMT, ITV shares were down 1.4% to 246p.
Crozier added that the company sees “significant opportunities” for growth across the business both organically and through acquisitions and partnerships.
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Societe Generale said the results were a beat, with earnings per share 2% ahead of consensus and the 10p special dividend higher than the French bank’s 5p forecast.
