ITV cautious on advertising outlook

ITV’s (ITV) non-advertising revenues rose by 5 per cent to £1.97bn for the year to December 2018, with sales for ITV Studios up 6 per cent to £1.67bn. However, the media group’s shares were marked down on results day. Political and economic uncertainty continues to weigh on advertising demand; while advertising sales edged ahead by 1 per cent over the reporting period, they are expected to reduce by 3-4 per cent in the first four months of 2019. First-half performance will be held in check by planned investments and deliveries being weighted to the second half, while relative metrics are likely to pale when set against tough comparators set during the FIFA World Cup in the second half of 2018.