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2025 Half-Year Highlights:

Our H1 performance is ahead of market expectations as we continue to successfully execute Phase Two of the More Than TV strategy, including the expansion of our UK and global production business in ITV Studios, supercharging our streaming business, ITVX and optimising our highly cash generative linear broadcast business. 

Total revenue was 3% lower, and group adjusted EBITA was 31% lower year-on-year. This comparison is impacted by a very strong advertising period in H1 2024, driven by the Men’s Euros. Total advertising revenue in H1 2025 was up 2% compared to 2023 and better than guidance. ITVX is continuing its strong performance with digital advertising revenue up 12% compared to 2024. Meanwhile, the phasing of high-margin ITV Studios productions and distribution is weighted towards the second half, giving us confidence that ITV Studios is on track for good revenue growth for the full year, ahead of the global content market.

We are announcing an additional £15m in permanent non-content cost savings, taking the total group permanent non-content savings in 2025 to £45m. There will be a one-off cost of £40m to achieve the total group savings. We expect our total content spend to be around £1.23bn in 2025, compared to the £1.25bn previously indicated, as we continue to optimise our content spend to best reflect viewer dynamics. While the economic environment remains uncertain, we now expect a better outturn for the full year 2025, driven by these cost efficiencies.

 

2025 Half-Year Group Financial Highlights - ahead of expectations

● Total Group external revenue was down 1% at £1,585m (2024: £1,599m), with growth in ITV Studios external revenue largely offsetting the decline in TAR
● Total Group revenue was down 3% at £1,848m (2024: £1,903m) 
● Delivered £23m of non-content cost savings, which helped fund investments and offset inflation
● Group adjusted EBITA was down 31% at £146m (2024: £213m), reflecting the previously guided revenue impacts
● Adjusted EPS was down 45% at 1.8p (2024: 3.3p)
● EBITA was £145m (2024: £200m). Statutory profit before tax was £67m (2024: £330m) and statutory EPS was 1.2p (2024: 6.6p). The prior period benefited from the profit on the sale of BritBox International, which was sold to the BBC for £255m
● Profit to cash conversion of 109% on a rolling 12-month basis; Net debt of £586m (31 Dec 2024: £431m, 30 June 2024: £515m); Net debt to adjusted EBITDA leverage of 1.1x (31 Dec 2024: 0.7x, 30 June 2024: 0.9x)
● In line with ITV’s dividend policy, the Board has declared an interim dividend of 1.7p (2024: 1.7p), a total of c.£60m

 

ITV Studios: Good revenue growth, driven by our creative excellence, scale and diversification

● Total ITV Studios revenue grew 3% to £893m (2024: £869m)

○ External revenue was up 11%, reflecting strong demand from, and the timing of programmes for, global streaming platforms
○ Internal revenue declined by 13%, due in part to the absence of programming such as Saturday Night Takeaway, sports production revenue from the 2024 Men's Euros, and the phasing of productions
○ Zoo 55 made excellent progress in the first half, as we maximise the monetisation of our high-value content library through digital distribution

● Adjusted EBITA was down 21% to £107m (2024: £136m), with an adjusted EBITA margin of 12.0%. This reflects the weighting of revenue, profit and margin to H2 as previously guided due to the phasing of high-margin sales being weighted to the second half 

● ITV Studios had significant creative successes in H1, delivering a wide range of new and returning programmes and formats in the UK and internationally to a diversified portfolio of customers, including;

○ Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark for Netflix, Code of Silence and Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters for ITV, and Love Island USA for Peacock

● To further strengthen our creative output, during the period, we acquired independent scripted producer, Moonage Pictures, producer of The Gentlemen and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, and after the period end we acquired Plano a Plano, a Spanish scripted producer

 

Media & Entertainment (M&E): ITVX and Planet V continued to drive strong digital advertising revenues

● M&E revenue was down 8% at £955m (2024: £1,034m), with total advertising revenue (TAR) down 7%, better than guidance. Within this, digital advertising revenue grew 12%

 

○ Total digital revenues grew 9%  

○ Total M&E non-advertising revenue was down 10% to £131m (2024: £145m), due to the expected decline in subscription and partnership revenues, driven by the continuous enhancement in the viewer proposition and monetisation of ITVX

 

● M&E adjusted EBITA was down 54% at £35m (2024: £76m), reflecting the decline in TAR, partly offset by lower content spend and cost savings

● ITVX delivered good growth in viewing with total streaming hours up 15%

● Our successful strategic commercial partnership with YouTube contributed to the growth in digital advertising revenues and extended our reach to younger audiences

● ITV linear channels continued to deliver highly valuable mass reach for advertisers through the breadth of our schedule, with successful programming across key genres of Entertainment, Reality, Drama and Sport. In H1, ITV delivered:

 

○ 91% of the top 1,000 commercially broadcast TV programmes

○ 32.5% share of commercial viewing on our linear television channels 

 

 

 

 

Outlook: Confident in delivering good revenue growth in ITV Studios and ITVX, with continued strategic cost management and strong cash generation, underpinned by our leading linear broadcast business

ITV Studios:

● Our 2025 ITV Studios outlook remains unchanged:

○ Expect good growth in total revenue, faster than the global content market, driven by external revenue with key programmes such as Rivals S2 for Disney+, The Reluctant Traveller S3 for Apple TV+, Gomorrah - Origins for Sky, and Love Island: Beyond the Villa for Peacock in the US

○ Revenue, profit and margin will be weighted to H2, with the H2 margin being higher than H1, due to the timing of high-margin sales

○ Full year margin will be within the 13-15% target range, although lower than 2024, reflecting the change in sales mix, as the market continues to recover following the US strikes

● We remain on track to deliver our target of total organic revenue growth of 5% on average per annum from 2021 to 2026 - ahead of the market, and at a margin of 13 to 15%

Media & Entertainment (M&E):

● We expect to see continued good growth in digital advertising revenues over the medium term and remain on track to deliver at least £750m of digital revenues by 2026. We have built a really strong platform in ITVX, which broke even two years earlier than expected and has already recouped its entire investment. We continue to develop new advertising and non-advertising revenue opportunities by:

○ Extending our reach and growing the supply of targetable audiences, with strategic content partnerships, such as YouTube and Disney+, along with increasing targetable inventory with linear addressable advertising

○ Increasing the demand for our targetable advertising through a range of commercial innovations. For example, we will launch a premium video advertising platform for SMEs with Sky, Channel 4 and Comcast’s Universal Ads platform, and we continue to add new products to Planet V, such a contextual targeting

○ Leveraging our scaled platform, our powerful brand and IP, and first-party data for new nonadvertising digital revenue opportunities, such as developing ITV Win into a premium destination for competitions and gaming,

● Total advertising revenue (TAR) is expected to be marginally down in Q3 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, reflecting the tough comparative from the final knockout matches of the Men’s Euros in July 2024. Within this, we expect continued strong growth in digital advertising revenues

● Total content costs are expected to be around £1.23bn for the full year, down from £1.25bn as we further optimise content spend to best reflect viewer dynamics

● ITV has a strong upcoming schedule in H2. This includes new and returning dramas such as I Fought the Law, Cold Water and Trigger Point; Entertainment including Ant and Dec's Accidental Tourist and Fortune Hotel S2; Sport featuring England men's and women's international football; and Reality including Olivia Attwood's Bad Boyfriends and Big Brother

 

Planning assumptions for the full year 2025

The following planning assumptions are based on our current view.

Profit and Loss Impact:

● Total content costs are expected to be around £1.23bn. This is lower than the previous guidance of £1.25bn as we further optimise content spend to best reflect viewer dynamics

● In total, we expect to deliver £45m of permanent non-content savings which includes £15m of new savings announced today and £30m previously announced. These will come from a combination of new initiatives and annualised benefits from the 2024 savings

● Adjusted financing costs are expected to be £45m, £5m higher than previous guidance

● The adjusted effective tax rate is expected to be around 27% over the medium term, slightly higher than previous guidance

● Exceptional costs are expected to be around £100m, which is higher than the previous guidance of £45m due to the increased permanent cost savings target, corporate transaction-related expenses which are predominantly performance-based employment-linked consideration to former owners and professional fees related to actual and potential acquisitions; and costs to deliver structural changes which will deliver significant permanent savings

 

Cash impact:

● Cash cost of exceptionals is expected to be around £60m

● Profit to cash conversion is expected to be around 80% on average over the medium term

● Total capex is expected to be around £65m as we continue to invest in our digital capabilities

● The Board has proposed an interim dividend of 1.7p, a total of around £60m, which will be paid in November 2025. The Board intends to pay a full-year ordinary dividend of at least 5.0p, which it expects to grow over the medium term