ITV has reported a 14 per cent fall in its annual pre-tax profits to £533 million as it saw advertising revenues drop by three per cent.
The broadcaster said it continued to rebalance and strengthen the business and blamed “wider political and economic uncertainty” for advertising falls.
On the positive side, ITV reported a 13 per cent increase in revenue from the ITV Studios division and underlying pre-tax profit was up slightly on the year, from £843 million to £847 million.
Chief executive Adam Crozier said ITV had “delivered a good performance in 2016”, pointing out that total external revenues were up three per cent.
“The continued growth in revenue and adjusted profit, despite a three per cent decline in spot advertising revenues resulting from wider political and economic uncertainty, is clear evidence that our strategy is working and remains the right one for ITV,” he said.
Mr Crozier said that ITV maintained its “leading position” in the UK television advertising market.
“Whilst our net advertising revenues have declined, we again outperformed the UK TV ad market as a whole,” he said.
