STV board bullish over profit fall

SCOTTISH Television continues to grapple with a tough advertising market that contributed to a fall in group pre-tax profits last year from £13 million to £6m.

Profits were down despite cost-cutting efforts. Adjusting for the sale of Virgin Radio, revenue was down 17 per cent, 23m, to 110m. There is no dividend.

But progress is being made, according to the board, which pointed out that it had met or exceeded its targets and was increasing its share of regional advertising. The company has gained 169 new advertisers in the period.

There has also been strong growth in the company's digital traffic and there was encouraging improvement in programme commissioning.

It won its first ever commission from the BBC, Antiques Road Trip, ITV ordered more episodes of Taggart, and there is a new commercial partnership with People's Postcode Lottery.

STV's chairman, Richard Findlay, said: "STV has delivered a strong set of results, particularly in light of the extremely challenging market conditions in 2009, including the demise of Setanta and the delay in ITV's re-commission of Taggart.

"We have, however, concluded the successful turnaround of the business over the past three years, delivering on our promises and establishing STV as a focused and ambitious digital media company, structured to deliver shareholder value as the trading environment improves."