A STV announce a final dividend of 14.7p per share (2018: 14.0p per share) has been proposed and is subject to approval by the Board of Directors. It is payable on 29 May 2020 to shareholders who are on the register at 14 April 2020. The ex-dividend date is 9 April 2020. This final dividend, amounting to £5.6m has not been recognised as a liability in these financial statements.
Other financial highlights include:
Double digit growth in adjusted operating profit up 13% to £22.6m (2018: £20.1m), the highest level in over a decade
Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) also up 13%, to 46.4p per share (2018: 41.1p per share)
Adjusted operating margin improved by 230 bps to 18.2% (2018: 15.9%)
Increase in total advertising revenue, up 2% to £101.6m (2018: £100.0m), driven by strong digital revenue growth and an 11% increase in regional advertising
Digital revenues up 37% to £13.0m (2018: £9.6m) with digital operating margin up to 56%
On track to deliver diversification target of one third of profit from outside traditional television advertising by end of 2020, with non-broadcast earnings 28% of the total in 2019 (2018: 24%)
