ITV profits drop 61% in 2023, cushioned by record ITVS revenues & digital growth

Mr Bates Vs The Post Office (Source: ITV)

UK commercial broadcaster ITV saw pre-tax profits take a 61% nosedive over the past year, from £501m ($638m) in 2022 to £193m ($246m) in 2023.

Reporting the figures in its annual financial results, ITV said that the slump comes as a result of the ongoing downturn in the linear ad market and its planned investment in streaming service ITVX.

The drop was partially cushioned by record revenues and profits from its production business, with Mr Bates V The Post Office and Squid Game: The Challenge firm ITV Studios reporting a 4% revenue rise to £2.2bn.

Total group revenues fell by 2% to £4.3bn, with total external revenue also down by 3% to £3.6bn.

However, digital revenues rose by 19% to £490m in 2023, which ITV said had “substantially” offset the 15% decline in linear advertising. Streaming service ITVX saw strong growth, with monthly users up by 19% and total streaming hours increased by 26%.

ITV said it expects to deliver at least £750 million of digital revenues by 2026 and revealed plans to lower overall content spend to around $1.3bn in 2024.

Chief exec Carolyn McCall hailed the results as demonstrating “the benefit of the actions we have taken to reposition ITV towards higher sustainable growth.”

She added: “We remain confident in delivering our KPI targets and are making good progress towards these – most notably ITV Studios organic revenue growth of 5% on average per annum between 2021 and 2026 at a margin of 13 to 15%.”