ITV has reported a fall in half-year sales and profits which it has blamed on “ongoing economic and political uncertainty”.
The broadcaster said net advertising revenues dropped 8% to £769m for the first six months of the year while pre-tax profit slumped 16% to £259m.
Its total revenues, including advertising, programme sales and online, fell 3% to £1.45bn.
Chairman Peter Bazalgette said advertising revenue was likely to continue its downward trajectory.
He said: “ITV’s performance in the first six months of the year is very much as we anticipated and our guidance for the full year remains unchanged.
“We expect ITV Family net advertising revenues in quarter three to be down around 4%, again impacted by wider economic uncertainty, and over the full year we expect to outperform the TV advertising market.”
The one bright spot for ITV was the performance of ITV Studios, where revenue rose 7% to £697m thanks to new dramas including Unforgotten, Little Boy Blue and The Loch.
The broadcaster expects to see a better performance in the third quarter with advertising revenue improving to a 4% decline.
