ITV Studios will grow “faster than the global content market” this year, ITV has said, although turnover in the production-distribution arm remained virtually flat during the first quarter of this year.
Delivering a trading update in the week that Deadline dove deep into a potential ITV sale, the 70-year-old British outfit said revenue, profit and margin will be weighted to the second half of this year “due to the timing of cost savings and high-margin deliveries.” ITV Studios’ full-year margin will be lower than 2024, it added, which “reflects the change in sales mix as the market recovers following the U.S. strikes.”
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ITV Studios’ revenue rose by just 1% for the three months to March 31 like-for-like to hit £386M ($512B). Notably, “external revenue,” the amount it makes from global buyers, shot up by 20%, while it was hit by a 26% drop in “internal revenue” impacted by Saturday Night Takeaway and drama series The Tower not returning. Global wins included Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge, which is co-produced by ITV Studios-owned The Garden. ITV Studios delivered record profits for full year 2024.
Overall, ITV posted quarterly revenue of £875M, a decline of just 1% on the prior year’s first quarter. Revs in its media and entertainment division were down 3% to £489M.
“ITV Studios returned to growth following the impact of the US strikes and is on course to achieve good growth in total revenue over the full year, weighted towards H2 as previously guided,” said CEO Carolyn McCall. “While the macroeconomic environment is uncertain, we remain confident that our strategic initiatives, our focus on financial and cost discipline and our diversified revenue and customer base will enable us to successfully navigate an evolving market landscape and deliver long-term value to our shareholders.”
ITV is currently the subject of fevered sale speculation and the sale of ITV Studios as a separate entity is one possible option being floated.
At the network’s AGM earlier this week, Chairman Andrew Cosslett faced difficult questions over its stubborn 77p share price, which dipped slightly today, with one investor demanding to know when the figure will rise.
“If someone approaches with an offer we have to take interest and it’s very clear from the room that there are lots of people interested in getting the share price up,” said Cosslett on Tuesday.