STV Group PLC Trading Statement (9886W)
April 29 2021 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSTVG
RNS Number : 9886W
STV Group PLC
29 April 2021
29(th) April 2021
STV Group PLC
Trading Update
Advertising recovery ahead of expectations; positive future
outlook
-- Ahead of its Annual General Meeting at 11am today STV Group
plc announces that advertising trends continue to improve in 2021,
with STV's January-April total advertising revenue (TAR) now +10%,
ahead of previous guidance of +7-9%.
-- STV-controlled advertising continues to outperform the wider
market, with regional advertising revenues up 12% in the first four
months of the year.
-- Video on Demand advertising on the STV Player continues to
see strong growth, up 26% across January-April, and has now
delivered 8 consecutive months of growth since August 2020.
-- STV's record viewing performance has continued into 2021,
with TV viewing up 12% in Q1 and STV now the most watched TV
channel in Scotland, ahead of BBC1 in both peak time and across the
whole day, for the first time since 2006.
-- Online viewing was up 73% in Q1 and streams up 98%, with STV
Player the fastest growing broadcaster streaming service in the UK
and STV Player-only content making up 40% of all streams so far
this year.
-- In terms of the outlook, STV expects May TAR to be up 65-80%
as the advertising recovery continues, resulting in January - May
TAR of +15-20%. This would mean advertising revenue for the first 5
months of 2021 was broadly in line with the same period in
2019.
-- STV also expects a strong commercial and viewing performance
in June as the economy continues to reopen, supported by a
high-quality programme schedule on TV and online, including the
start of the delayed Euro 2020 football championships where STV
will broadcast over 20 live and exclusive matches featuring both
Scotland and England.
-- STV Studios also remains on track to deliver its most
successful year yet, with revenues of GBP20-25 million already
secured for 2021. STV Studios is currently in production on 15
series for 11 different networks, including new drama series Screw
and new factual entertainment format Murder Island, both for
Channel 4. Last month STV Studios confirmed a further drama series
commission, Blue Lights, by creative partner Two Cities Television,
for BBC1.
-- Finally, STV confirms that, as planned, Baroness Margaret
Ford will step down as Chair at today's AGM after 8 years and will
be replaced by Paul Reynolds who joined the Board on 1(st) February
2021.
Simon Pitts, STV Chief Executive, said:
"It's still relatively early days in the economic recovery but
I'm encouraged by the strong start we've made to 2021, with
advertising for the first 5 months of the year expected to return
to 2019 levels and our excellent digital and production growth
continuing.
We're setting more viewing records on screen and online, with TV
viewing up 12% and STV Player viewing up 73% in Q1, the fastest
growth of any UK broadcaster.
STV-controlled Scottish advertising and digital advertising both
continue to outperform the wider market, driven by our advertising
Growth Fund and the success of our streaming service, STV Player,
following its recent launch across the whole of the UK.
We have more to look forward to in 2021, with STV Studios on
track to deliver its most successful year yet following a record 19
new commissions last year, as well as the exciting prospect of the
delayed Euro 2020 football championships, with over 20 games live
and exclusive on STV including both Scotland and England.
Finally on behalf of everyone at STV I'd like to thank Margaret
for her outstanding stewardship, guidance and unstinting support of
STV as Chair over the past 8 years. I'm looking forward to working
with Paul and the rest of our Board to deliver continued success at
STV."
ENDS
Enquiries:
STV Group plc:
Kirstin Stevenson, Head of Communications, Tel: 07803 970106
Camarco:
Geoffrey Pelham-Lane, Partner, Tel: 07733 124226
Ben Woodford, Partner, Tel: 07790 653341
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