ITV, Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, said today its turnaround plan was on track and it was outperforming a tough television advertising market while increasing audience share.
The company said revenues for the first quarter rose 3% on the same time the year before and net advertising revenue (NAR) was up 2%. It had forecast that NAR would be flat over the first half, ahead of the wider market which is expected to be down 1%.
'ITV has made further progress in 2008 and the turnaround plan, outlined in September 2007, remains on track,' CEO Chairman Michael Grade said.
'The forecast for the first half shows us outperforming the UK television advertising market - the first time this has happened since 2000,' he added.
ITV shares have underperformed by more than a third over the past 12 months amid fears that ad revenue will be hit by an economic downturn. They have also suffered ahead of an expected large sale of shares after regulators ruled that pay-TV group BSkyB should sell down some of its 17.9%t stake in the company.
