The STV Group Plc Board proposes an interim dividend of 3.9p per share, in line with H1 2022
Other financial highlights include:
Total revenue of £75.3m, +21% on 2022, driven by organic growth in Studios and Digital, more than offsetting expected linear advertising revenue declines
Studios revenue of £27.2m, +294% due to increased drama deliveries, with division profitable (£0.1m; 2022 loss of £1.0m) and strong H2 profitability coming through with expected seasonal second half weighting
Regional advertising revenue down 14% to £7.3m (excluding Scottish Government spend, regional down only 2%)
Digital revenue +9% to £10.1m (VOD revenue +14%), with adjusted operating profit up 26% to £5.0m
Group adjusted operating profit £8.0m, -33% on 2022, reflecting expected impact of declines in higher margin linear advertising revenue and inflationary cost pressure
o Savings realised to offset broadly half the inflationary increases, as guided
Exceptional costs of £2.8m incurred in the period relating to the new agreement with ITV for digital content and national VOD sales representation (2022: nil)
Net debt of £16.3m, up only £1.2m since December 2022 despite reduced profits, with working capital outflow of 2022 partially unwinding in the period; significant facility and covenant headroom maintained
