STV announces strong profit results and lowest level of net debt in a decade
STV has made a healthy start to 2016 after its latest annual financial results revealed a fifth consecutive year of growth in its pre-tax profits and the lowest net debt in a decade.
STV
The STV Group reported a pre-tax profit growth of over 10 per cent to £19.1m and 13 per cent decrease in its net debt to £25.7m, the lowest its been since the mid-1990s.
Figures for the production arm of the company showed a 42 per cent year-on-year decline in total revenue however this STV’s chief executive Rob Woodward maintained that this was down to timing.
Woodward told The Drum that the decline in the revenue of its production arm was down largely because of “timing of when we can recognise commission for the programmes.”
He explained that this merely tipped over into 2016 and pointed out that production revenue for 2016 so far had already surpassed the whole of 2015.
He added: “We set an ambitious target of generating a 10 per cent share uplift over a three year period and we achieved that.
“These are a strong set of results whatever way you look at it, our shareholders are very happy with the results.”
STV’s digital revenues grew by 25 per cent to £6.6m in 2015 and its local services in STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh were able to help generate £1m in revenue while attracting130 new advertisers to TV.
As for the STV local expansion to Aberdeen, Ayr and Dundee, the company says it is on track to break even by 2017.