STV Group plc Full Year Results 2019

RNS Number : 5073F

STV Group PLC

10 March 2020

 

  Press Release

    0700 hours, 10 March 2020

STV Group plc Full Year Results for 2019

Adjusted operating profit up 13% with positive outlook

Strong financial performance

· Double digit growth in adjusted operating profit up 13% to £22.6m (2018: £20.1m), the highest level in over a decade

· Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) also up 13%, to 46.4p per share (2018: 41.1p per share)

· Adjusted operating margin improved by 230 bps to 18.2% (2018: 15.9%)

· Increase in total advertising revenue, up 2% to £101.6m (2018: £100.0m), driven by strong digital revenue growth and an 11% increase in regional advertising

· Digital revenues up 37% to £13.0m (2018: £9.6m) with digital operating margin up to 56%

· On track to deliver diversification target of one third of profit from outside traditional television advertising by end of 2020, with non-broadcast earnings 28% of the total in 2019 (2018: 24%)

· Further increase in returns to shareholders with final ordinary dividend of 14.7p per share, giving a full year dividend of 21.0p per share, up 5% year on year

Financial Highlights

		2019	2018	Change
Revenue		£123.8m	£125.9m	(2%)
EBITDA*		£27.7m	£24.6m	13%
Adjusted operating profit**		£22.6m	£20.1m	13%
Adjusted operating margin**		18.2%	15.9%	230bps
Adjusted profit before tax***		£21.0m	£19.0m	11%
Profit before tax		£19.0m	£1.9m	853%
Adjusted basic EPS***		46.4p	41.1p	13%
Statutory basic EPS		42.2p	4.2p	905%
Net debt		£37.5m	36.3m	(3%)
Dividend per share		21.0p	20.0p	5%
*	Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation & amortisation, with 2018 adjusted to reflect new standard for leases (as reported of £22.8m with lease charge of £1.8m added back)
**	Before exceptional items
***	Before exceptional items and IAS19 interest

Continued excellent viewing performance on screen and online

· All time viewing share maintained at 10-year high of 17.7%, 3 points up on ITV Network

• STV now the best watched peaktime channel in Scotland, beating BBC One for first time since 2013

• 98% of commercial audiences over 500,000 in Scotland delivered by STV

• Biggest TV channel in Scotland for young people, reaching 92% of 16-34 year olds in 2019

• STV News at Six now the most watched news programme in Scotland with STV identified as the number one source of news for Scotland by Ofcom

· Online viewing up 23%, with VOD stream starts up 37%, driving a 44% increase in ad impressions

· Total STV Player registrations up 17% at 3.5m, representing 80% of Scottish adults

· Strong viewing performance driven by entertainment hits like I'm a Celebrity and The Chase, new dramas Manhunt, The Bay, Cheat and Deep Water, which broke all STV streaming records, the Rugby World Cup and the STV News at Six

STV strategic plan continues to deliver at pace

· STV Growth Fund driving regional advertising growth, with £10m allocated, attracting over 160 new advertisers to STV since launch

· STV Player now universally available, with successful Sky launch boosting streams by 30%

• Over 1,000 hours of additional Player-only content available, now delivering 15-20% of total digital viewing

• Significant potential for future digital growth, driven by new exclusive content, new product features and new platforms like Apple TV where STV Player launched last week

· STV Productions now has a broader slate of new and returning shows:

• Biggest recommission to date of Antiques Road Trip and Celebrity Antiques Road Trip

(140 episodes, 2-year deal for BBC), plus recommissions for Celebrity Catchphrase

(further 9 episodes for ITV), Inside Central Station (6 episodes for BBC Scotland) and Jerk

(4 episodes for BBC3)

• New commissions include two new factual entertainment series, Clear Out Cash In (10 episodes for Discovery-owned lifestyle channel, Really) and a further unannounced series, both for delivery this year, and two new commissions for Primal Media, including Home Free for C4

• Successful return to drama production for first time in a decade with two critically acclaimed productions for BBC One: The Victim and Elizabeth is Missing

• Acquisition of Primal Media and investment in Two Cities Television significantly enhances STV's creative pipeline in unscripted and drama

· Process underway to investigate partnership or divestment of the Scottish Children's Lottery to enable STV to focus fully on progressing successful growth of broadcast, digital and production businesses

Positive outlook

· Strong start to 2020

• STV viewing share up

• STV Player viewing accelerating

• Total advertising revenue expected to be up in Q1, and down 5% in April

· Across the full year we would currently expect:

• Single digit growth in regional advertising

• Strong double digit growth in digital

• STV Productions to move into profitability, with deliveries weighted to H2

· Implications of the Coronavirus unclear at this stage, but we continue to monitor closely

· Strategy on track and delivering

Simon Pitts, Chief Executive Officer, said: "An operating profit increase of 13% when national advertising revenues are down illustrates our growing resilience and the exciting growth potential of our regional, digital and production businesses. In 2019 STV was the most popular peaktime channel in Scotland, ahead of BBC One for the first time in 6 years; our Growth Fund has now welcomed over 160 new advertisers to TV since launch, underpinning strong growth in regional revenues; and our digital streaming service STV Player launched on Sky and became universally available for the first time, helping to drive 37% growth in both streams and revenue. These factors contributed to a strong full year performance, with EPS also up 13% and operating margin up over 230 basis points to 18%.

"We continue to make excellent progress with our strategic growth plan and have laid solid foundations for future growth, including in STV Productions where 2019 saw a return to high-end drama for the first time in a decade with the critically acclaimed The Victim and Elizabeth is Missing for BBC One. We also made two exciting investments in entertainment and drama companies to significantly strengthen our creative pipeline. 2020 has started with a range of new commissions and recommissions, including the biggest ever order for Antiques Road Trip and a new 10 part series for Discovery.

"Despite uncertainty following the UK's exit from the EU and the Coronavirus, we are positive about the outlook for 2020.  We have made a strong start to the year on screen and online, in line with our expectations, and have an exciting programming line-up to look forward to, with the return of Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain's Got Talent and new dramas like Liar and Quiz all helping to drive viewing on STV and the STV Player."

There will be a presentation for analysts at the offices of Panmure Gordon, One New Change, London EC4M 9AF today, 10 March 2020, at 12.30 pm.  Should you wish to attend the presentation, please contact Angela Wilson, [e-mail] or telephone: [phone].

Enquiries:

STV Group plc:   Kirstin Stevenson, Head of Communications   Tel: [phone]

Camarco:   Geoffrey Pelham-Lane, Partner        Tel: [phone]

Ben Woodford, Partner      Tel: [phone]

 

Financial performance review

Against a national advertising market that fell 4% year on year, total revenue decreased only 2% to £123.8m (2018: £125.9m).  Within this, total advertising revenue grew by 2% to £101.6m (2018: £100.0m) with gains in regional and digital offsetting the national market decline brought about by the political and economic uncertainty that defined 2019. 

Reflecting the national advertising market, broadcast division revenues were down 2% at £92.3m (2018: £94.5m).  Digital division revenue growth was strong, up 37%, to £13.0m (2018: £9.6m).

The increase in total advertising revenue was offset by lower revenues in STV Productions of £13.7m (2018: £16.3m) as the business was re-positioned under a new management team for future growth and a return to profitability.

Adjusted operating profit (before exceptional items) was £22.6m, an increase of 13%, the highest level for over a decade (2018: £20.1m) as declining national revenues were more than offset by more profitable regional and digital revenue growth. 

The biggest contributor to the £2.5m increase in Group adjusted operating profit year on year was the digital division, which delivered an additional £2.1m profit.  The broadcast division reported an increase of £0.5m. Following a year of transition, investment and significant change in the creative leadership team, STV Productions reported a marginal loss of £0.1m, a reduction of £0.6m on the prior year, which was offset at a Group level by £0.5m savings in corporate costs. 

During the year, the basis of allocation of central/corporate costs to the divisions was changed to better reflect the underlying trading of those businesses.  Previously, all such costs were allocated across the divisions with none held centrally.  Now, those costs incurred centrally that relate to the Group's operation as a PLC, as well as the remuneration of the Directors, are held centrally as a corporate division.  All the metrics in this narrative are on the basis of this new methodology and a reconciliation for 2018 is included in note 5 to the financial information.

Net operating exceptional items in 2019 were nil (2018: £11.1m).  The two significant offsetting items in the current year were the gain on sale of the Group's minority shareholding in non-core asset, deltaDNA, of £2.0m, and the write down of development costs in STV Productions of £1.9m.  The deltaDNA transaction completed in September 2019. The total consideration receivable was £2.5m, in a mix of cash and shares in the new parent company, with 20% deferred for two years.  The write down of development costs was a result of a full review undertaken in the second half of the year by the new management team of STV Productions.  In 2018, the operating exceptional items related to restructuring, the cost of equalising guaranteed minimum pensions and the loss on disposal of STV2.  In addition, in 2018, there was an exceptional finance cost of £4.2m related to an increase in the provision for the receivable due from the Scottish Children's Lottery.

Revenue from the STV External Lottery Manager (ELM) in 2019 was down to £4.8m (2018: £5.5m), reflecting further cost savings made by that operation.

Total finance costs were £3.6m (2018: £2.9m before exceptional items).  Cash finance costs on the Group's borrowings totalled £1.3m (2018: £1.1m) with the balance being non-cash costs in relation to the Group's defined benefit pension schemes (£2.0m; 2018: £1.8m) and interest on the lease liability of £0.3m following adoption of the new accounting standard at the start of the year.

The statutory result for the year was a profit before tax of £19.0m (2018: £1.9m).  The effective tax rate for the year was 17% (2018: 16%), lower than the UK standard rate primarily due to tax deductions on pension contributions.  The profit after tax for the year was £15.9m (2018: £1.6m).

Adjusted earnings per share (before exceptional items and IAS19 interest) was up 13% to 46.4p per share (2018: 41.1p per share) reflecting the growth in operating profit.  On a statutory basis, earnings per share was 42.2p per share (2018: 4.2p per share) with the prior year impacted by the significantly higher level of exceptional items.

The net debt: EBITDA ratio at the end of the year was 1.29 times (2018: 1.36 times), within the Group's target range of 1.0 - 1.5 times and well within the covenant maximum of 3 times.  Net debt increased slightly on the prior year, by £1.2m to £37.5m albeit operating cash conversion was strong at 92%.

The main non-operating cash outflows were pension deficit payments of £10.3m, net dividend payments of £7.6m, share purchases of £2.1m and reorganisation costs of £1.0m in relation to the restructure implemented in 2018.

Across the Group's two defined benefit pension schemes, the accounting deficit before tax reduced to £64.0m at the end of 2019 (2018: £78.5m) due to contributions invested and improved investment returns more than offsetting the impact of a lower discount rate.  The latest triennial valuation, as at 31 December 2017, was concluded in April 2019 with no changes to the schedule of contributions agreed at the previous triennial valuation (31 December 2014).

Shareholder returns

The Board remains committed to the delivery of increased returns to shareholders whilst ensuring there is financial flexibility to enable strategic investments in support of the growth strategy. A final dividend of 14.7p per share, resulting in a total dividend of 21.0p per share for 2019 is recommended, an increase of 5% on 2018.  Future increases in shareholder returns will continue to be aligned with earnings growth. 

Operational review

Broadcast

The strategy to maximise the value of the profitable broadcast business through delivery of high quality, cost-effective news and entertainment was successfully fulfilled in 2019 with an excellent viewing performance on STV.  All-time viewing share was maintained at a 10-year high of 17.7%, 3 share points ahead of the ITV Network, demonstrating the resilience and enduring appeal of the channel. 

In premium peaktime, STV outperformed every other channel, including BBC One, securing the position of best watched channel in Scotland.  This 'best watched' position includes the key 16-34 year old audience. STV was watched by 92% of Scots in this age group, representing a reach three times bigger than youth-focused ITV2.  With an average peaktime audience bigger than the top 10 commercial channels in Scotland combined, STV reached 4 out of 5 Scots every month in 2019 and delivered 98% of large commercial audiences over 500,000 viewers. 

The growing success of our news and current affairs programming and highly popular bespoke Scottish content bolstered the strong ratings performance delivered by the Network schedule. Following a successful change programme to invest in and modernise STV News and current affairs in 2018, flagship programme STV News at Six was the most watched news programme in Scotland in 2019.  We have also relaunched STV's digital news service on all platforms and are now the leading source of news video in Scotland.

In addition, the STV News team produced 17 hours of regional programming across 2019.  This included three new series, broadcast in peak time, which were highly popular, regularly achieving an audience share in excess of the Network.  This included Sean's Scotland which secured a 28% share in STV peaktime.

Weakness in the national advertising market, which was down 4%, was partially offset by regional advertising growth of 11%. This resulted in a slight decline in broadcast advertising revenues, down 2% to £92.3m (2018: £94.5m). Our regional advertising performance bucked the trend across the wider UK advertising market, positively impacted by the STV Growth Fund for the second year in succession which has allocated almost £10.0m across nearly 400 deals and secured over 160 new advertisers.  Since launch, the Growth Fund has been a key factor in strengthening STV's leading position in the regional market, growing market share and driving revenue.   

Operating profit increased by 3% to £19.9m (2018: £19.4m) and the division's operating margin increased by 1% to 21.6%.

Digital

The aim of the digital business is to drive growth by creating an STV for everyone with the STV Player becoming Scotland's content destination of choice. The success of this strategy in 2019 has delivered significant growth in revenue and profit, ahead of expectations. 

Revenue increased by 37% to £13.0m (2018: £9.6m), driven by the 37% increase in VoD streams.  Operating profit increased by 40% to £7.3m (2018: £5.2m) and the margin performance of this highly profitable division again increased year on year, up to 56% (2018: 55%).

The growth plan for STV Player is underpinned by three strategic priorities: increased digital distribution; an expanded range of content to provide something for everyone; and improved product functionality, all designed to secure more people, watching more often and staying for longer.  This strategy has delivered exceptional growth in 2019 with total time spent watching the STV Player up 23% year on year.  Across the year, monthly active VoD users increased by 15%. Half a million more users signed up taking the total number of registered users to 3.5m, the equivalent of 4 out of 5 Scottish adults.

VoD stream starts were up by 37%, driven in part by the addition of over 1,000 hours of Player-only content, including 110 hours of drama boxsets and the addition of two live sports channels. This  Player-only content now represents 15-20% of viewing, with drama titles from this catalogue regularly featuring in the top ten best watched titles.

An important advancement in 2019 was achieving universal availability of the STV Player in Scotland, in all homes and on all platforms, as strategic partnerships with Virgin Media and Sky were implemented.  As a measure of success, 88% of Virgin Media's users in Scotland accessed the STV Player in 2019.

Although only launched on Sky in late October, already c30% of VoD streams are from this platform, delivering a 15-20% increase in ad impressions as the STV Player becomes available in Scottish homes that subscribe to Sky.  Ad-server integration on the Sky platform has been designed to maximise the commercial impact and profitability for STV with 90% of advertising revenues retained. Managed by STV, this is being achieved through a partnership with ad-tech company, FreeWheel.  Additionally, the Sky partnership also positioned STV as the first UK PSB to broadcast all of its regional variants in HD on satellite.

New and innovative features designed to increase time spent viewing through an enhanced user experience and improved functionality have been introduced throughout 2019. 'End of play' was introduced across all platforms providing users with automatic recommendations for what to watch next when their selected programme concludes. Across the second half, 7.5m end of play recommendations were displayed with more than half acted upon, driving a significant increase in time spent enjoying content on the STV Player.

Launched in time for the Rugby World Cup 2019, 'picture in picture' enables users to continue watching their favourite shows while using other apps, and supported a significant uplift on typical usage during matches.

This innovative approach to improving functionality of the Player is also being applied to ad serving on the platform with 30% of digital inventory being sold programmatically across six platforms, maximising the commercial impact for STV. Additionally, we continue to add new commercial products for our advertisers and commercial partners.  In December 2019, STV was the first UK commercial broadcaster to launch the 'green button' broadcast restart capability on FreeView.

STV Player+, the ad-free subscription service launched in early 2019, continues to perform in line with expectations and will be rolled out to all major platforms during 2020.

STV Productions

The aim for STV Productions is to build a world class production business with a multi-genre slate of returning series.  2019 was a year of creative and organisational change, putting in place the foundations to deliver profitable growth.  The new creative team has overhauled the development slate and the pipeline across all genres is strong.  This is beginning to convert to commissions, including a new series, Clear Out Cash In, co-commissioned by Discovery-owned lifestyle channel, Really (10 episodes) and STV (8 episodes) and a further unannounced factual entertainment series, both for delivery in 2020.  Additionally, Primal Media has secured two new commissions, including Home Free for C4.  Across the year, the team delivered 17 shows, for 8 channels, amounting to 120 hours.

A key aim is to increase the number of returning series. In 2019, five returning series were delivered.  These were Celebrity Catchphrase (series 3 and 4) for ITV; Antiques Road Trip (series 18 and 19) and Celebrity Antiques Road Trip (series 8 and 9), both for the BBC; Britain's Biggest Warship: Goes to Sea (series 2) for BBC2; and Inside Central Station (series 2) along with a one-off Christmas special of this ratings success for new channel, BBC Scotland.

This run of success is continuing in early 2020. Four new series (100 episodes) of the popular long running show Antiques Road Trip have been commissioned by BBC One, along with two series (40 episodes) of the celebrity version, for BBC Two, making this the largest ever order the BBC has placed for these shows.

Significantly, 2019 marked STV's return to drama for the first time in a decade.  The team produced two of the most successful and critically acclaimed dramas of the year.  The Victim (BBC One), delivered an average audience across the series of 6.5m and broke records, achieving the highest  catch-up viewing figure of 73% since catch-up viewing records began in 2002. 

TV film, Elizabeth is Missing, saw Glenda Jackson in the lead role and making her return to screen for the first time in 28 years.  Tipped to perform well in the forthcoming awards season, it has received widespread plaudits and many five star reviews, reinforcing the creative credentials of our drama team.

Investments in new creative and financial partnerships designed to accelerate growth were also successfully progressed during this formative year for the business.  In July, we acquired a majority stake in innovative unscripted production company, Primal Media.  STV Productions will realise full value from Primal Media's current and future programming slate and has a path to full ownership in success. 

A second investment, of an initial minority stake in high-end drama producer Two Cities Television (Two Cities), was completed in early 2020.  With an exciting pipeline of projects at an advanced stage of development, the deal is structured to enable STV to take a majority holding once Two Cities reaches profitability.  Strategically, this deal is aligned with STV's nations and regions strategy; with a base in Belfast, Two Cities is well positioned to benefit from increased investment outside London, augmenting STV Productions' position with its substantive base in Glasgow.

Total revenues generated by STV Productions were £13.7m (2018: £16.3m) and despite the placing of strategic investments in future growth, the business was broadly breakeven with an operating loss of £0.1m, (2018: profit of £0.5m), delivering an operating margin of -1%.

Good progress was made in 2019 with an international strategy to maximise existing IP, using the successful secondary sales business as the launch pad to increase this source of revenue and build profile for STV Productions. 

STV External Lottery Manager (ELM)

The STV ELM has continued to operate on a breakeven basis, with the costs it incurs in providing external lottery management services to the Scottish Children's Lottery (SCL) being recharged in full and at nil mark-up. 

Ticket sales exceeded £4m during 2019.  The roll-out of the retail proposition was progressed, reaching the target number of outlets by the end of the year, albeit at a slower rate than initially planned and end-loaded into Q4.  As a result, the cash generation of the SCL did not cover its operating costs and so the amounts due from the lottery to the ELM increased from gross amounts of £11.4m at the end of 2018, to £12.4m at the end of 2019.  

The provision of £5.0m in place at the start of the year has reduced slightly to £4.7m as a result of forgiveness of £0.3m of debt agreed with the trustees of the SCL as part of an overall package of changes implemented at the start of the year to reduce the cost base of the ELM.

Notwithstanding the net cash consumption of the lottery during the year, the prospects for the lottery are one of cash generation and no increase to the provision has been recognised on that basis.  The resultant net debtor due from the lottery to the ELM at the end of the year was £7.7m (2018: £6.4m).

Concurrently with the continued operation of the ELM, a strategic review of that operation was conducted during Q4 2019 to consider options for its future.  This review concluded that STV is not the best long term owner of the lottery, and a process is therefore underway to investigate a partnership or divestment of the ELM to enable STV to focus fully on the execution of its growth strategy.  

Board changes

In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.11, it is announced that Christian Woolfenden resigned as a non-executive director on 9 March 2020 having served on the Board since June 2014.  The Board would like to thank Christian for his contribution to the Company over this time.

Simon Pitts

Chief Executive Officer, STV Group plc

Consolidated income statement Year ended 31 December 2019

		2019			2018
		Before exceptional items	Exceptional  items (note 6)	Results for period	Before exceptional items	Exceptional  items (note 6)	Results for period
	Note	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Revenue	5	123.8	-	123.8	125.9	-	125.9
Net operating expenses		(101.2)	(2.0)	(103.2)	(105.8)	(11.1)	(116.9)
Other income		-	2.0	2.0	-	-	-
Operating profit		22.6	-	22.6	20.1	(11.1)	9.0
Finance costs
- borrowings		(1.3)	-	(1.3)	(1.1)	-	(1.1)
- defined benefit pension schemes		(2.0)	-	(2.0)	(1.8)	-	(1.8)
- lease interest		(0.3)	-	(0.3)	-	-	-
Provision for impairment losses - ELM debtor		-	-	-	-	(4.2)	(4.2)
		(3.6)	-	(3.6)	(2.9)	(4.2)	(7.1)
Profit before tax		19.0	-	19.0	17.2	(15.3)	1.9
Tax (charge)/credit	7	(3.2)	0.1	(3.1)	(2.9)	2.6	(0.3)
Profit for the year		15.8	0.1	15.9	14.3	(12.7)	1.6
Attributable to:
Owners of the parent		15.9	0.1	16.0	14.3	(12.7)	1.6
Non-controlling interests		(0.1)	-	(0.1)	-	-	-
		15.8	0.1	15.9	14.3	(12.7)	1.6
Earnings per share
Basic	8	42.0p		42.2p	37.2p		4.2p
Diluted	8	40.6p		40.8p	36.5p		4.1p

A reconciliation of the statutory results to the adjusted results is included at note 19.

 

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income Year ended 31 December 2019

	2019	2018
	£m	£m
Profit for the year	15.9	1.6
Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss:
Re-measurement of defined benefit pension schemes	6.2	(13.3)
Deferred tax (charge)/credit	(0.9)	2.0
Write down of listed investment to market value	-	(0.5)
Other comprehensive income/(expense)	5.3	(11.8)
Total comprehensive income/(expense) for the year	21.2	(10.2)
Attributable to:
Owners of the parent	21.3	(10.2)
Non-controlling interests	(0.1)	-
	21.2	(10.2)

 

Consolidated balance sheet

At 31 December 2019

		2019	2018
	Note	£m	£m
Non-current assets
Intangible assets	10	2.6	1.9
Property, plant and equipment	11	10.7	9.8
Right-of-use assets	12	12.2	-
Investments	14	0.9	0.7
Deferred tax asset		16.1	19.5
Trade and other receivables	15	9.5	8.2
		52.0	40.1
Current assets
Inventories		13.2	14.4
Trade and other receivables		21.6	22.7
Cash and cash equivalents		6.2	6.3
		41.0	43.4
Total assets		93.0	83.5
Equity
Ordinary shares	16	19.6	19.6
Share premium	16	102.0	101.9
Capital redemption reserve		0.2	0.2
Merger reserve		173.4	173.4
Other reserve		0.9	0.8
Accumulated losses		(343.2)	(355.0)
Shareholders' equity		(47.1)	(59.1)
Non-controlling interests		(0.2)	-
Total equity		(47.3)	(59.1)
Non-current liabilities
Borrowings		43.7	42.6
Lease liabilities	12	10.6	-
Retirement benefit obligations	18	64.0	78.5
		118.3	121.1
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables		19.9	20.4
Lease liabilities	12	1.8	-
Current tax liabilities		0.3	-
Provisions		-	1.1
		22.0	21.5
Total liabilities		140.3	142.6
Total equity and liabilities		93.0	83.5

 

Consolidated statement of changes in equity Year ended 31 December 2019

	Share capital	Share premium	Capital redemption reserve	Merger reserve	Other reserve	Accumul-ated losses	Attributable to owners of the parent	Non-controlling interest	Total equity
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 1 December 2018	19.6	101.9	0.2	173.4	0.8	(355.0)	(59.1)	-	(59.1)
Implementation of IFRS 16 (note 3)	-	-	-	-	-	(0.1)	(0.1)	-	(0.1)
At 1 January 2019	19.6	101.9	0.2	173.4	0.8	(355.1)	(59.2)	-	(59.2)
Profit/(loss) for the year	-	-	-	-	-	16.0	16.0	(0.1)	15.9
Other comprehensive income	-	-	-	-	-	5.3	5.3	-	5.3
Total comprehensive income/(expense) for the year	-	-	-	-	-	21.3	21.3	(0.1)	21.2
Acquisition of treasury shares	-	0.1	-	-	(0.2)	(2.0)	(2.1)	-	(2.1)
Share based compensation	-	-	-	-	0.3	-	0.3	-	0.3
Tax credit on share based compensation	-	-	-	-	-	0.2	0.2	-	0.2
Acquisition of subsidiary	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	(0.1)	(0.1)
Dividends paid	-	-	-	-	-	(7.7)	(7.7)	-	(7.7)
Unclaimed dividends received	-	-	-	-	-	0.1	0.1	-	0.1
At 31 December 2019	19.6	102.0	0.2	173.4	0.9	(343.2)	(47.1)	(0.2)	(47.3)
At 1 January 2018	19.7	101.9	0.1	173.4	0.7	(334.1)	(38.3)	-	(38.3)
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	-	1.6	1.6	-	1.6
Other comprehensive expense	-	-	-	-	-	(11.8)	(11.8)	-	(11.8)
Total comprehensive expense for the year	-	-	-	-	-	(10.2)	(10.2)	-	(10.2)
Acquisition of treasury shares	-	-	-	-	(0.2)	(3.4)	(3.6)	-	(3.6)
Share based compensation	-	-	-	-	0.3	-	0.3	-	0.3
Shares bought back on-market and cancelled	(0.1)	-	0.1	-	-	(0.2)	(0.2)	-	(0.2)
Deferred tax charge on share based compensation	-	-	-	-	-	(0.2)	(0.2)	-	(0.2)
Dividends paid	-	-	-	-	-	(6.9)	(6.9)	-	(6.9)
At 31 December 2018	19.6	101.9	0.2	173.4	0.8	(355.0)	(59.1)	-	(59.1)

 

Statement of consolidated cash flows

Year ended 31 December 2019

			2019	2018
		Note	£m	£m
Operating activities
Cash generated by operations		17	25.6	26.1
Interest paid			(1.1)	(0.9)
Refinancing fees paid			-	(0.2)
Net taxes received/(paid)			0.1	(0.7)
Pension deficit funding	- recovery plan payment		(10.3)	(8.8)
Exceptional reorganisation costs			(1.0)	(2.4)
Net cash generated by operating activities			13.3	13.1
Investing activities
Proceeds from sale of investment			1.3	0.2
Cash acquired on purchase of subsidiary			0.4	-
Proceeds from sale of STV2			-	0.3
Purchase of intangible assets			(1.6)	(0.4)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment			(2.9)	(3.0)
Net cash used in investing activities			(2.8)	(2.9)
Financing activities
Acquisition of treasury shares			(2.1)	(3.5)
Payment of obligations under leases			(1.9)	-
Share buyback			-	(0.6)
Borrowings drawn			20.0	14.0
Borrowings repaid			(19.0)	(13.0)
Net dividends paid			(7.6)	(6.9)
Net cash used in financing activities			(10.6)	(10.0)
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents			(0.1)	0.2
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year			6.3	6.1
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year			6.2	6.3

 

Notes to the preliminary announcement

Year ended 31 December 2019

1.  General information

STV Group plc ("the Company") and its subsidiaries (together "the Group") is listed on the London Stock Exchange and incorporated and domiciled in the UK.  The address of the registered office is Pacific Quay, Glasgow, G51 1PQ. The principal activities of the Group are the production and broadcasting of television programmes, provision of internet services and the sale of advertising airtime and space in these media.  Outside the core business, the Group also operates an external lottery management company.

2.  Basis of preparation

The financial information set out in the audited preliminary announcement does not constitute the Group's statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019 within the meaning of Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006 and has been extracted from the full audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019.

Statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2018, which received an unqualified audit report, have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The reports of the auditors on the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2018 and for the year ended 31 December 2019 were unqualified and did not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.  The financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019 will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies and made available to all shareholders in due course. 

Going concern basis

At 31 December 2019, the Group was in a financial net debt position with a positive gross cash balance.  The Group is in a net current asset position and generates cash from operations that enables the Group to meet its liabilities as they fall due and other obligations.

As part of the going concern review, the Group considers forecasts of the total advertising market to determine the impact on liquidity.  The Group's forecasts and projections, taking account of reasonably possible changes in trading performance, show that the Group will be able to operate within the level of its current available funding and covenant levels.

As set out in the Group's strategy in 2018, the Group continues to focus on diversification of operations to drive a greater proportion of the Group's results from non-broadcast earnings.

After making enquiries, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operation for at least 12 months from the date of this report.  Accordingly, the Group continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing its consolidated financial statements.

3.  Accounting policies

Except as described below, the accounting policies applied are consistent with those of the annual financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2018.

Apart from the adoption of IFRS 16 described below, other changes to accounting standards in the current year had no material impact.

The Group adopted IFRS16 on 1 January 2019.  The standard has resulted in many current operating leases being recognised on the balance sheet, as the distinction between operating and finance leases is removed.  The Group has applied the modified retrospective transition method, and consequently comparative information is not restated.   

Within opening balances as at 1 January 2019, the Group has recognised £13.7m of right-of-use assets and an equal, corresponding IFRS 16 lease liability, the latter representing the obligation to make lease payments.  The lease liabilities were measured at the present value of the remaining lease payments, discounted using the Group's incremental borrowing rate as at 1 January 2019, which was 2.3%.  In addition on transition, a property lease accrual of £0.1m has been written off and adjusted through retained earnings. 

For each lease, the lease term has been calculated as the non-cancellable period of the lease contract, except where the Group is reasonably certain that it will exercise contractual extension options.   

In adopting IFRS 16, the Group has elected not to recognise right-of-use assets and lease liabilities for short-term leases or low-value assets.  The amounts relating to these leases are not material. 

The reconciliation from operating commitments disclosed under IAS 17 to the lease liability recognised on the balance sheet at 1 January 2019 is as follows:

	£m
Operating lease commitment at 31 December as disclosed in the Group's consolidated financial statements	13.8
Impact of IFRS 16 data review*	1.1
Operating lease commitments at 31 December 2018	14.9
Sub-lease property rentals netted against commitment	0.4
Discounted using the incremental borrowing rate at 1 January 2019	(1.6)
Lease liabilities reported at 1 January 2019	13.7

Of which are:	£m
Current lease liabilities	3.0
Non-current lease liabilities	10.7
	13.7

  *As part of the transition to IFRS 16, a detailed review of leases identified a small number of commitments not included in the 2018 Annual Report operating lease commitment disclosure.

There is also a change in presentation of cash flows for leases previously accounted for as operating leases, which are now presented as cash flows from financing activities rather than cash flows from operating activities. 

4.  Financial risk management and financial instruments

The Group's activities expose it to a variety of financial risks:  currency risk, credit risk, liquidity risk and cash flow interest rate risk.

The carrying value of non-derivative financial assets and liabilities, comprising cash and cash equivalents, trade and other receivables, trade and other payables and borrowings is considered to materially equate to their fair value.  Derivative financial instruments, which are measured at fair value, comprise interest rate swaps with a principal value of £15.0m categorised as level 2.  The fair value of interest rate swaps is calculated as the present value of the estimated future cash flows using market interest rates. The valuation techniques employed are consistent with the year end annual report.  

 

5.  Business segments

Information reported to the Group's Chief Executive for the purposes of resource allocation and assessment of segment performance is by product.  The Group's operating segments, which remain the same as the prior year, are Broadcast, Digital, Productions, and the STV ELM.

During 2019, a review of reportable segments was undertaken, which concluded that the reportable segments of the Group are Broadcast, Digital and Productions.  The STV ELM, previously reported separately, doesn't meet the criteria for separate disclosure under any of the revenue, profit or asset tests (in 2019 or 2018) and will no longer be disclosed as such. 

Also in 2019, the Group has changed the method of allocation of central/corporate costs to the reportable segments.  Previously the entirety of this cost was allocated across the segments (excluding the STV ELM).  Going forward, those costs that relate directly to the running of the Board and the Group's responsibilities as a listed company will be held centrally as 'unallocated corporate expenses'.  This will ensure that the results of the reportable segments are more directly comparable to other businesses operating in their sector.

There is no change to the disclosure of segmental revenues year on year, other than the column in the table below headed 'other' would previously have been reported as 'STV ELM'.  With regard to the disclosure of segment result, the 2018 comparators have been restated to reflect the new method of allocation.  A separate reconciliation of the impact of this change on the 2018 reported results is also provided.       

	Broadcast		Digital		Productions		Other		Total
	2019	2018	2019	2018	2019	2018	2019	2018	2019	2018
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Revenue
Sales	105.7	104.7	13.0	9.9	14.6	16.7	4.8	5.5	138.1	136.8
Inter-segment sales	(13.4)	(10.2)	-	(0.3)	(0.9)	(0.4)	-	-	(14.3)	(10.9)
Segment revenue	92.3	94.5	13.0	9.6	13.7	16.3	4.8	5.5	123.8	125.9
Segment result
Operating profit	19.9	19.4	7.3	5.2	(0.1)	0.5	-	-	27.1	25.1
Unallocated corporate expenses									(4.5)	(5.0)
Adjusted operating profit									22.6	20.1
Exceptional items									-	(15.3)
Finance costs									(3.6)	(2.9)
Profit before tax									19.0	1.9
Tax charge									(3.1)	(0.3)
Profit for the year									15.9	1.6

Reconciliation of 2018 segment result
			As reported		Reallocation		As restated
				2018		2018		2018	2019
				£m		£m		£m	£m
Broadcast				15.3		4.1		19.4	19.9
Digital				4.7		0.5		5.2	7.3
Productions				0.1		0.4		0.5	(0.1)
Unallocated corporate expenses				-		(5.0)		(5.0)	(4.5)
Operating profit (pre-exceptionals)				20.1		-		20.1	22.6

Revenue includes £1.0m from sources outside the UK (2018: £0.5m). Operating profit includes £0.6m arising outside the UK (2018: £0.3m).

6.  Exceptional items

Gain on sale of investment

The disposal of the deltaDNA investment to Unity Technologies Inc in September 2019 resulted in a gain on sale of £2.0m.  See note 14 for more information. 

Acquisition costs 

Costs of £0.1m were incurred in the acquisition of Primal Media Limited on 1 July 2019.  See note 13 for more information.

Development costs written off 

A write off of development costs of £1.9m has been recognised during the year.  A full review of the development costs previously capitalised was undertaken in the second half of the year by the new management team of STV Productions, and those costs relating to creative ideas and investments that are not aligned to the new strategic direction of the division have been written off. 

2018 exceptionals

The Group recognised exceptional costs totalling £15.3m.  These related to a provision for the restructuring of the business (£8.7m), the loss on sale of STV2 (£0.8m), a past service cost for GMP equalisation (£1.6m) and recognition of a provision in relation to the ELM debtor (£4.2m).

7.  Tax charge

				2019	2018
				m	£m
The charge for taxation is as follows:
Charge for the year before exceptional items				3.2	2.9
Tax effect on exceptional items				(0.1)	(2.6)
Charge for the year				3.1	0.3

The effective tax rate for the Group excluding exceptional items is 17% (2018: 17%). The tax charge is lower than the standard rate of 19% due to deductions in relation to pension contributions.

Changes to the UK corporation tax rates were substantively enacted as part of the Finance Act 2016 on 6 September 2016.  These included a reduction to the main rate to reduce it to 17% from 1 April 2020, from the previous rate of 18% under the Finance Bill 2015 (no.2).  Deferred taxes at the balance sheet date have been measured using these latest substantively enacted tax rates and reflected in these financial statements.

8.  Earnings per share

The calculation of earnings per share is based on earnings after tax and the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year, excluding ordinary shares purchased by the Company and held as treasury shares. 

For diluted earnings per share, the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue is adjusted to assume conversion of all dilutive potential ordinary shares. The Group has one type of dilutive potential ordinary shares namely share options granted to employees.

The adjusted earnings per share figures have also been calculated based on earnings before adjusting items that are significant in nature and/or quantum and are considered to be distortive.  The adjusting items include the impact of operating and non-operating exceptional items and the IAS 19 net financing cost; as well as the related tax adjustments. Adjusted earnings per share have been presented to provide shareholders with an additional measure of the Group's year-on-year performance.  

Earnings per share	2019	2018
	Pence	Pence
Basic earnings per ordinary share	42.2p	4.2p
Diluted earnings per ordinary share	40.8p	4.1p
Earnings per ordinary share (before exceptional items)	42.0p	37.2p
Diluted earnings per ordinary share (before exceptional items)	40.6p	36.5p
Adjusted basic earnings per share (see note 19)	46.4p	41.1p
Adjusted diluted earnings per share (see note 19)	44.9p	40.3p

The following reflects the earnings and share data used in the calculation of earnings per share:

Earnings	£m	£m
Profit for the year attributable to equity shareholders	16.0	1.6
Exceptional items (net of tax)	(0.1)	9.2
Exceptional impairment losses (net of tax)	-	3.5
Profit for the year before exceptional items	15.9	14.3
Number of shares	Million	Million
Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue	37.9	38.4
Dilution due to share options	1.3	0.8
Total weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue	39.2	39.2

9.  Dividends

	2019	2018	2019	2018
	per share	per share	£m	£m
Dividends on equity ordinary shares
Paid final dividend	14.0p	12.0p	5.3	4.6
Paid interim dividend	6.3p	6.0p	2.4	2.3
Dividends paid	20.3p	18.0p	7.7	6.9

A final dividend of 14.7p per share (2018: 14.0p per share) has been proposed and is subject to approval by the Board of Directors. It is payable on 29 May 2020 to shareholders who are on the register at 14 April 2020. The ex-dividend date is 9 April 2020. This final dividend, amounting to £5.6m has not been recognised as a liability in these financial statements.   

 

10. Intangible assets

	Web development and branding £m
Cost
At 1 January 2019		3.4
Additions		1.6
At 31 December 2019		5.0
Accumulated amortisation and impairment
At 1 January 2019		1.5
Amortisation		0.9
At 31 December 2019		2.4
Net book value at 31 December 2019		2.6
Net book value at 31 December 2018		1.9

11. Property, plant and equipment

	Leasehold buildings £m	Plant, technical equipment and other £m	Assets under construction £m	Total £m
Cost
At 1 January 2019	0.4	25.7	2.1	28.2
Additions	-	-	2.9	2.9
Transfers	-	4.7	(4.7)	-
At 31 December 2019	0.4	30.4	0.3	31.1
Accumulated depreciation and impairment
At 1 January 2019	0.1	18.3	-	18.4
Charge for year	-	2.0	-	2.0
At 31 December 2019	0.1	20.3	-	20.4
Net book value at 31 December 2019	0.3	10.1	0.3	10.7
Net book value at 31 December 2018	0.3	7.4	2.1	9.8

12. Leases

The balance sheet shows the following amount relating to leases: 

	2019	2018
	£m	£m
Right-of-use assets
Property	12.0	-
Vehicles	0.2	-
	12.2	-
Lease liabilities
Current	1.8	-
Non-current	10.6	-
	12.4	-

Additions to the right-of-use assets in 2019 were £0.3m.

 

The income statement shows the following amounts relating to leases:

	2019	2018
	£m	£m
Depreciation on right-of-use assets
Property	1.8	-
Vehicles	0.1	-
	1.9	-
Interest expense (included in finance costs)	0.3	-

13. Acquisition of subsidiary

On 1 July 2019, the Group acquired 52% of the issued share capital of Primal Media Limited ("Primal"), an award winning unscripted producer, for a nominal consideration.

The provisional fair values of the assets and liabilities of Primal as at the date of acquisition are as follows:

		Fair value
		£m
Cash and cash equivalents		0.4
Deferred production costs		0.5
Deferred production income		(0.6)
Accruals		(0.1)
Loan liabilities		(0.3)
Fair value of net liabilities		(0.1)
Less : Non-controlling interests		0.1
		-
Net cash
Cash consideration		-
Cash and cash equivalents acquired		0.4
Loan liabilities *		(0.3)
		0.1

Acquisition related costs of £0.1m are included in exceptional items in the income statement.

* Post acquisition, and in line with the terms of the Sale and Purchase agreement, the Group repaid half of the loan.

14. Investments

	2019	2018
	£m	£m
Listed	0.1	0.1
Other	0.8	0.6
	0.9	0.7

On 18 September 2019, the Group (along with all other shareholders) sold its investment in deltaDNA Ltd to Unity Technologies Inc for a net consideration of £2.5m (total consideration £2.6m less transaction costs £0.1m) which resulted in a gain on sale of £2.0m (net book value of investment at completion was £0.5m).   

The net consideration comprised an element payable in cash (62.5%) and the balance in shares in Unity (37.5%).  Consideration of £0.5m (£0.2m in shares and £0.3m in cash) has been deferred for 2 years and has been recognised as deferred consideration within other receivables in non-current assets.     

15. Trade and other receivables

Non-current other receivables of £9.5m (2018: £8.2m) relate primarily to amounts due to the STV ELM (the external lottery management company) from the Scottish Children's Lottery of £7.7m (2018: £6.4m).  This debtor has been presented net of an expected credit loss impairment of £4.7m (2018: £5.0m).  In line with IFRS 9, management have performed a whole of life probability weighted impairment review resulting in no change to the provision being required.     

16. Ordinary shares and share premium

	Number of shares (thousands)	Ordinary shares £m	Share premium £m	Total £m
At 1 January 2019	39,192	19.6	101.9	121.5
Sharesave exercises	-	-	0.1	0.1
At 31 December 2019	39,192	19.6	102.0	121.6

17. Notes to the consolidated statement of cash flows

	2019	2018
	£m	£m
Operating profit	22.6	9.0
Add back : exceptionals	-	11.1
Adjusted operating profit	22.6	20.1
Adjustments for:
Depreciation and amortisation	4.8	2.4
Share based payments	0.3	0.3
Adjusted EBITDA	27.7	22.8
(Increase)/decrease in inventories	(0.7)	0.7
Decrease in trade and other receivables (excluding ELM)	1.5	2.2
(Decrease)/increase in trade and other payables (excluding ELM)	(1.1)	3.1
Increase in ELM trade and other receivables	(1.3)	(2.6)
Decrease in ELM trade and other payables	(0.5)	(0.1)
Cash generated by operations	25.6	26.1

Net debt reconciliation

	At 31 December 2018	On adoption of IFRS 16	At 1 January 2019	Cash flows (i)	Non-cash changes (ii)	At 31 December 2019
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Long term borrowings	(42.6)	-	(42.6)	(1.0)	(0.1)	(43.7)
Cash and cash equivalents	6.3	-	6.3	(0.1)	-	6.2
Net debt	(36.3)	-	(36.3)	(1.1)	(0.1)	(37.5)
Lease liabilities	-	(13.7)	(13.7)	1.9	(0.6)	(12.4)
Net debt including lease liabilities	(36.3)	(13.7)	(50.0)	0.8	(0.7)	(49.9)

i)  Cash flows includes an amount of cash acquired on acquisition of subsidiary.

ii)  Non-cash changes for long-term borrowings relates to the amortisation of borrowing costs and for lease liabilities, the acquisition of right-of-use assets. 

At 31 December 2019, the Group had revolving credit and overdraft facilities in place totalling £60.0m (2018: £60.0m), of which £44.0m was drawn down (2018: £43.0m).  The balance sheet value of £43.7m (2018: £42.6m), reported as non-current and expiring within 2 to 5 years from the balance sheet date at the end of both the current and prior periods, is presented net of £0.3m of unamortised borrowing costs (2018: £0.4m).     

The bank facilities have a maturity date of June 2022 and security is provided to the lenders by way of cross guarantees and a share pledge.   

18. Retirement benefit schemes

The Group operates two defined benefit pension schemes. The schemes are trustee administered and the schemes' assets are held independently from those of the Group. Pension costs are assessed in accordance with the advice of an independent professionally qualified actuary.

The schemes are the Scottish and Grampian Television Retirement Benefit Scheme and the Caledonian Publishing Pension Scheme.  Both are closed schemes and accounted for under the projected unit method.

A full actuarial valuation of the schemes was carried out at 31 December 2017 and resulted in an actuarial deficit to be funded by the Group of £127.0m on a pre-tax basis at 28 February 2019, compared to £130.0m on a pre-tax basis at the previous settlement date of 30 November 2016.  The next triennial valuation will take place as at 31 December 2020.

A recovery plan period of 12 years was agreed with the first annual contributions of £9.0m in line with the current recovery plan.  Annual contributions will increase at the rate of 2% per annum over the term of the plan, the first such increase being on 1 January 2020. These payments are tax deductible.

 

The significant actuarial assumptions used for accounting purposes reflect prevailing market conditions in the UK and are as follows:

	At 31 December 2019	At 31 December 2018
	%	%
Rate of increase in salaries	Nil	Nil
Rate of increase of pensions in payment	3.00	3.30
Discount rate	2.00	2.75
Rate of price inflation (RPI)	3.00	3.30

Assumptions regarding future mortality experience are set based on advice, published statistics and experience in each scheme.

The average life expectancy in years of a pensioner retiring at age 65 is as follows:

	At 31 December 2019	At 31 December 2018
	Years	Years
Retiring at balance sheet date:
Male	19.3	19.4
Female	21.5	21.6
Retiring in 25 years:
Male	21.2	21.4
Female	23.1	23.1

The fair value of the assets in the schemes and the present value of the liabilities in the schemes at each balance sheet date was:

	At 31 December 2019			At 31 December 2018
	Quoted	Unquoted	Total	Quoted	Unquoted	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Debt instruments	193.6	-	193.6	184.0	-	184.0
Investment funds	66.2	115.3	181.5	36.1	110.4	146.5
Cash and cash equivalents	5.1	-	5.1	13.1	-	13.1
Derivatives	-	1.7	1.7	-	(0.2)	(0.2)
Fair value of schemes' assets	264.9	117.0	381.9	233.2	110.2	343.4
Present value of defined benefit obligations			(445.9)			(421.9)
Deficit in the schemes			(64.0)			(78.5)

A related, offsetting deferred tax asset of £10.9m (2018: £13.2m) is included within non-current assets.  Therefore, the pension scheme deficit net of deferred tax was £53.1m at 31 December 2019 (2018: £65.3m).

 

19. Reconciliation of statutory results to adjusted results

In reporting financial information, the Group presents alternative performance measures (APMs) which are not defined or specified under the requirements of IFRS.  The Group believes that these APMs, which are not considered to be a substitute for or superior to IFRS measures, provide stakeholders with additional helpful information on the performance of the business.   

The Group makes certain adjustments to the statutory profit measures in order to provide a more meaningful comparison of how the business is managed and measured on a day-to-day basis.     

Below sets out a reconciliation of the statutory results to the adjusted results:    

	2019			2018
	Profit  before tax	Basic EPS	Diluted EPS	Profit  before tax	Basic EPS	Diluted EPS
	£m	pence	pence	£m	pence	pence
Post-exceptional	19.0	42.2p	40.8p	1.9	4.2p	4.1p
Add back: exceptionals	-	(0.2p)	(0.2p)	15.3	33.0p	32.4p
Pre-exceptional	19.0	42.0p	40.6p	17.2	37.2p	36.5p
Add back: IAS 19	2.0	4.4p	4.3p	1.8	3.9p	3.8p
Adjusted results	21.0	46.4p	44.9p	19.0	41.1p	40.3p

20. Post balance sheet event

On 8 January 2020, the Group acquired a minority investment in drama producer Two Cities Television for an initial consideration of £1.1m. In addition, convertible loan notes to the value of £0.4m have been issued.

 

END

 

 

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