British television group Carlton Communications says it is not considering ditching its troubled digital venture with Granada.
When asked whether quitting ITV Digital was an option, chief executive Gerry Murphy told Reuters, 'We are looking at more creative solutions than that'.
Murphy said Carlton, a major shareholder in Britain's largest commercial network ITV, shed 300 jobs in the financial year just ended, and plans to cut 100 more this year, bringing the total workforce down to about 3,200.
He also said clients were 'pretty tentative' about next year's advertising spend as they wait to see how the wider economy fares.
Annual profits at Carlton dropped sharply as a result of the slump in advertising, which the company said would continue in the first quarter of its current year.
Pre-tax profits for the year to the end of September came to £118m sterling, compared with £193m a year ago.
Investment and losses at ITV Digital, however, grew by 19% to £229.2m before exceptionals. This pushed Carlton into an overall pre-tax loss after exceptional items of £409.2m, an increase of 63% from the figure the previous year.
