Half Year 2026 ITV PLC Earnings Call Transcript

Jul 31, 2026 / 08:30 AM GMT

Release Date Price: €0.8795 (+0.57%)

Transcript

Key Points

Positve

ITV PLC (ITVPF) delivered a solid H1 performance with both divisions achieving revenue growth, including a 2% increase in ITV Studios revenue and a 3% rise in total advertising revenue.
The sale of the M&A business to Sky is a transformative deal that will unlock significant shareholder value, including a £950 million net cash return and a £100 million share buyback.
ITVX continues to show strong momentum with viewing up 27% and digital revenues growing 13%, reaching over 20 million monthly active users in June.
ITV Studios has a strong pipeline of high-budget dramas and unscripted formats scheduled for H2, providing good revenue visibility and supporting full-year guidance.
The company maintains strong cost discipline, reducing overall content costs by 2% even with the World Cup, and is on track to deliver £20 million in cost savings for the full year.
The balance sheet remains robust with net debt of £652 million and a leverage ratio of 1x, supporting continued shareholder returns and investment.

Negative

ITV Studios EBITDA declined 9% to £97 million with a margin of 11%, reflecting the expected H2 weighting and lower profitability in the first half.
Q3 total advertising revenue is expected to decline around 5%, impacted by macroeconomic headwinds, political uncertainty, and the aftermath of the World Cup.
The company faces uncertainty in Q4 advertising revenue, with limited visibility and potential for advertisers to reduce spend after the World Cup.
Cash conversion was lower at 63% due to working capital build-up, which may partially reverse but indicates near-term cash flow pressure.
The regulatory process for the M&A sale could lead to a Phase 2 CMA review, potentially delaying completion until H2 2027 and creating uncertainty.
Non-content costs increased due to higher marketing spend, which could pressure margins if not offset by revenue growth.

Refinitiv StreetEvents Event Transcript
E D I T E D V E R S I O N

ITV.L - ITV PLC
Half Year 2026 ITV PLC Earnings Call
Jul 31, 2026 / 08:30AM GMT

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Presentation
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Unidentified_1 [1]
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Good morning everyone and welcome to ITV's 2026 interim results. As always, I'm joined today by Chris Kennedy, our CFO and COO.

Having spoken to you very recently following our announcement of the transaction with Sky, we will keep today's update relatively short, starting with a summary of the key messages from the first half and then Chris will take you through our financial and operating performance in more detail.

I'll then provide a strategic update on both businesses.

ITV delivered a solid performance in H1, and we remain firmly on track to deliver our full-year guidance of good growth in ITV studios and strong, profitable digital revenue growth across M&A.

As announced earlier this month, we have agreed

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