ITV gives an encore

The ITV Studios unit and the online, pay and interactive division led the charge and revenues here grew 20 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, in 2013. Their performance helped drive group net advertising revenue up 2 per cent year-on-year and the trend should continue if the TV advertising market continues to recover and if new drama and lifestyle channels (ITV Encore and ITVBe) turn out to be hits.

ITV's existing main and Family channels continued to draw viewers, with their shares of the UK's total viewing audience rising 3 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. The Family channel in particular is promising - management expects net advertising revenues there to rise 5-6 per cent in the four months to end-April, up from 2 per cent last year. ITV also made gains on smaller screens as a growing mobile and tablet audience drove a 16 per cent year-on-year rise in long-form video requests.

ITV has also continued to bolster its content offerings, acquiring five businesses in the past two years, including a 51 per cent stake in DiGa Vision, a US reality show producer, in February. These deals should fuel its efforts to attract more international viewers. ITV already holds the broadcasting rights for the Fifa World Cup in Brazil this year, which bodes well for short-term earnings.

Broker Numis Securities expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £640m for 2014, giving EPS of 12.6p (2013: £581m/11.3p).